Game 11 - May 27, 2001
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - St. Thomas killed two birds with one stone Sunday night at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, advancing to the final game and exorcising a demon in the process. The Tommies beat Montclair State 8-5, and will play Marietta today at 3:30 p.m. at Fox Cities Stadium. Montclair beat St. Thomas twice on the final day of the tournament last season, sending the Tommies to their second straight runner-up finish.
"You hate to say 'revenge' or something like that, but all I know is I remember that five-hour bus ride home after two heartbreaking losses," said St. Thomas first baseman Nate Sundberg. "So I'm not going to lie, it felt really good. We played a good game, that's what I feel best about, we went out and played our game." If St. Thomas beats Marietta today, it will have a one-loss margin of error in Tuesday's championship round, just as it did last year, by virtue of being the sole undefeated team left in the tournament. "I think it's great," said St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning. "We've been in the final game twice, so here we are again. Third time's a charm, everyone's been saying that to me. We might lose two more, but at least we're here. "Somebody's going to have to knock us down and drag us out to get us out of here."
Brad Bonine went 2-for-4 and drove home two runs in the decisive fifth inning for St. Thomas, which improved to 38-9 and tied a school record for wins in a season. Sundberg doubled twice, Luke Sather was 2-for-3 and Jake Mauer was 2-for-4 for the Tommies. Four St. Thomas pitchers combined to subdue Montclair, with freshman Sean Lindstrom picking up the win. Lindstrom, the last pitcher to make the varsity roster this spring, improved to 4-1 in the postseason. Jon Marzolf and Adam Hunkins bridged the gap to Brian Whinnery, who earned the save. Whinnery entered in the ninth with a man on first and a 3-1 count on Sean Morrison, and promptly retired the side, striking out Scott Allan to end the game.
Montclair jumped on Lindstrom in the first inning, as Allan and Chris Baran drove in runs. Bonine led off with a single and moved to third on Mauer's double. Bonine scored on Sundberg's groundout to second, and Mauer scored on Sather's single. The Red Hawks scored twice again in the second, as Scott Clark reached on an error, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored along with P.J. Baccarella on Dave Wurst's double.
The Tommies responded again, when Tony Wolverton scored from third on a wild pitch and Mauer drove home Kyle Olson with a sacrifice fly to center. They went ahead 5-4 in the third went Sundberg doubled, went to third on Sather's sacrifice and scored on Wolverton's single.
Montclair tied the game in the top of the fourth when Clark singled, stole second and scored on Baccarella's single. St. Thomas reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth, when Sundberg doubled, moved to third on Casey Garven's sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch.
Bonine's two-out single scored Sather and Olson to make it 8-5. St. Thomas lost outfielder Ryan Benson for the remainder of the tournament. Benson sprained his left ankle trying to beat out a bunt single in the first inning.
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Montclair State 5 (37-10) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Dave Wurst 2b/ss.......... 5 0 3 2 0 0 3 1 Sean Morrison lf.......... 4 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 Craig Conway 3b/2b........ 5 1 1 0 0 2 0 6 Scott Allan p/dh.......... 5 0 2 1 0 2 0 0 Chris Baran rf............ 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 Jeff Schriber c........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 9 0 Scott Clark cf............ 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 George Becker 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 8 1 P.J. Baccarella ss........ 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Frank Longo ph............ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Adam Cerminaro 3b......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Josh Pine p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Arre p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Rakowski-Kulman p... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals.................... 36 5 9 5 4 8 24 9 Univ. of St. Thomas 8 (38-9) Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A Brad Bonine cf............ 4 1 2 2 1 1 5 0 Matt Buzzell ss........... 5 0 1 0 0 3 1 2 Jake Mauer 2b............. 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 5 Tom Carroll 3b............ 4 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 Nate Sundberg 1b.......... 3 2 2 1 0 0 9 0 Luke Sather dh............ 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 Ryan Benson lf............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Casey Garven ph/lf........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Tony Wolverton rf......... 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Kyle Olson c.............. 2 2 0 0 1 1 8 1 Sean Lindstrom p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Jon Marzolf p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Adam Hunkins p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Whinnery p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals.................... 31 8 10 6 4 9 27 12 Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Montclair State 220 100 000 - 5 9 1 Univ. of St. Thomas 221 030 00 - 8 10 2 ---------------------------------------------- E - Baccarella, Buzzell, Olson. LOB - Montclair 8, St. Thomas 8. 2B - Wurst(8), Allan(17), Schriber(10), Mauer(13), Sundberg 2(7). SB - Clark 2(7), Baccarella(3), Bonine(21), Buzzell(11), Wolverton(28). CS - Allan. SH - Sather, Garven. SF - Mauer, Sundberg. Montclair State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Scott Allan......... 2.0 4 5 5 3 2 8 14 Josh Pine........... 2.1 4 2 2 0 3 9 11 Jason Arre.......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 K. Rakowski-Kulman.. 3.1 2 1 0 1 4 13 14 Univ. of St. Thomas IP H R ER BB SO AB BF Sean Lindstrom...... 7.2 8 5 3 2 5 31 33 Jon Marzolf......... 0.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 Adam Hunkins........ 0.1 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 Brian Whinnery...... 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 Win - Lindstrom 7-1. Loss - Pine 2-2. Save - Whinnery (3). WP - Allan. PB - Schriber. BK - Lindstrom. HBP - by Allan (Olson). Umpires - Home:John Ramsey 1st:Jeff Sill 2nd:Bill Pensyl 3rd:Mike Parquette Start: 7 p.m. Time: 3:13 Attendance: 929 Game Notes: Allan faced 1 batter in the 3rd. Marzolf faced 2 batters in the 8th. Hunkins faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Story | Box Score | Play by Play
Score by innings: R H E ---------------------------------------------- Montclair State 220 100 000 - 5 9 1 Univ. of St. Thomas 221 030 00 - 8 10 2 ---------------------------------------------- Montclair State inning 1 Wurst grounded out to ss. Morrison walked. Conway singled to right center; Morrison advanced to second. Allan doubled to right field, RBI; Conway advanced to third; Morrison scored. Baran grounded out to 2b, RBI; Allan advanced to third; Conway scored. Allan out at home c to p, caught stealing. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 1 Bonine singled to third base. Buzzell struck out looking. Mauer doubled down the rf line; Bonine advanced to third. Carroll walked. Sundberg popped up to 2b, SF, RBI; Bonine scored. Sather singled to left center, RBI; Carroll advanced to third; Mauer scored. Garven pinch hit for Benson. Garven reached on a fielder's choice; Sather out at second ss unassisted. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Montclair State inning 2 Garven to lf. Schriber struck out swinging. Clark reached on an error by ss. Becker flied out to cf. Clark stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by c. Baccarella walked. Wurst doubled to left center, 2 RBI; Baccarella scored, unearned; Clark scored, unearned. Morrison grounded out to 2b. 2 runs, 1 hit, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 2 Wolverton walked. Olson hit by pitch; Wolverton advanced to second. Bonine walked; Olson advanced to second; Wolverton advanced to third. Buzzell struck out swinging. Bonine advanced to second on a wild pitch; Olson advanced to third on a wild pitch; Wolverton scored on a wild pitch. Mauer flied out to cf, SF, RBI; Olson scored. Carroll grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 3 Conway struck out swinging. Allan singled through the right side. Baran flied out to cf. Schriber reached on a fielder's choice; Allan out at second 3b to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 3 Sundberg doubled down the lf line. Allan to dh. Pine. Pine to p. Sather out at first 1b to 2b, SAC, bunt; Sundberg advanced to third. Garven popped up to 2b. Wolverton singled to center field, RBI; Sundberg scored. Wolverton stole second. Olson struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 4 Clark singled to shortstop. Clark stole second. Becker grounded out to 3b. Baccarella singled to center field, RBI; Clark scored. Baccarella stole second. Wurst flied out to lf. Morrison flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 4 Bonine struck out looking. Buzzell grounded out to 2b. Mauer singled to right center. Carroll struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 5 Conway grounded out to 2b. Allan struck out swinging. Baran grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 5 Sundberg doubled down the rf line. Sather singled to shortstop. Garven grounded out to 3b, SAC; Sather advanced to second; Sundberg advanced to third. Arre to p for Pine. Wolverton flied out to lf. Rakowski-Kulman to p for Arre. Olson walked. Olson advanced to second on a passed ball; Sather advanced to third on a passed ball; Sundberg scored on a passed ball. Bonine singled to left field, 2 RBI; Olson scored, unearned; Sather scored. Bonine stole second. Buzzell singled to second base; Bonine advanced to third. Buzzell stole second. Mauer struck out looking. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Montclair State inning 6 Schriber grounded out to ss. Clark flied out to cf. Becker grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 6 Carroll grounded out to 3b. Sundberg grounded out to 3b. Sather reached on an error by ss. Garven flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB. Montclair State inning 7 Baccarella struck out looking. Wurst singled to shortstop. Wurst advanced to second on a balk. Morrison flied out to cf. Conway struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 7 Wolverton struck out looking. Olson grounded out to 3b. Bonine grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Montclair State inning 8 Allan flied out to rf. Baran grounded out to 3b. Schriber doubled down the lf line. Marzolf to p for Lindstrom. Clark walked. Becker walked; Clark advanced to second; Schriber advanced to third. Hunkins to p for Marzolf. Longo pinch hit for Baccarella. Longo struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB. Univ. of St. Thomas inning 8 Wurst to ss. Conway to 2b. Cerminaro to 3b for Longo. Buzzell struck out swinging. Mauer grounded out to 2b. Carroll struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Montclair State inning 9 Wurst singled through the left side. Whinnery to p for Hunkins. Morrison struck out looking. Conway reached on a fielder's choice; Wurst out at second 2b to ss. Allan struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Updated Sept 2003