2001 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship
Tournament Statistics
Team Statistics
Regional Playoff Results
Records
University of St. Thomas wins the 26th Division III Baseball Championship
Third Times the Charm for the Tommies
Grand Chute, Wisconsin - After two straight years of disappointment, the University of St. Thomas finally will bring home some fond memories from the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. St. Thomas, which had finished second in each of the past two College World Series, won the first national baseball championship in school history on Tuesday, beating Marietta College 8-4 in a winner-take-all championship game at Fox Cities Stadium.
"I don't know if I can describe it," senior second baseman Jake Mauer said. "After being so close, it's like a fairy tale, really." Outfielder Brad Bonine said: "I thought it would never happen." Leading by four in the ninth, starter Brian Whinnery worked a 1-2-3 inning, getting the final hitter to fly out to Bonine in center to set off the celebration. "I'm real happy, but I'm happy for my players," St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning said. "I'm just happy these guys could win it, because they got the bragging rights for a year, anyway."
Marietta scored in the top of the first inning. Jay Coakley hit a single through the hole into left field to drive in the first run of the game. St. Thomas answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a run on Luke Sather's infield single, which he beat out when the Marietta first baseman was unable to reach first base and get the putout in time.
The Tommies put up three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 4-1 lead. Bonine hit a two-run double to left-center field gap, and he scored from third later in the inning when Mauer's bunt barely stayed fair down the third-base line. Marietta College pulled starter Jim Sharp after the second inning, and Scott Stocker kept the Pioneers in the game by blanking the Tommies through the fifth inning.
Marietta's offense responded with runs in the fourth and fifth innings to cut its deficit to 4-3. In the sixth inning, St. Thomas widened its lead. Scott Christiansen led off with a single and was sacrificed to second. Matt Buzzell hit a double down the left-field line to score one run, and Bonine followed with a two-run home run to right to give the Tommies a 7-3 lead. "We just had a double to score a run, so I just wanted to hit the ball hard," said Bonine, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and was named tournament MVP. "I think it helps anytime there's a home run hit."
The teams traded runs in the seventh inning, and Marietta College loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning, down by four runs. Whinnery got Mike Menke to hit a comebacker to the mound, and the Tommies got out of it without a run scoring. "I was just trying not to throw it into the bullpen (on the putout)," Whinnery said. "It wasn't like I was fooling a lot of them, especially later in the game, and the guy just missed the ball a little bit."
Bonine led five St. Thomas players on the all-tournament team. Tom Carroll, Jake Mauer, Brian Whinnery and Tony Wolverton were the others named from St. Thomas. Kris Buirley, Matt DeSalvo and Todd Timmer of Marietta were named all-tournament, as were Cortland State's Brendan Chiavaro and Craig Conway and Corey Hamman of Montclair State.
2001 All Tournament Team
MVP - Brad Bonine, St. Thomas (Minn)
Second Base - Jake Mauer, St. Thomas (Minn); Craig Conway, Montclair State; Todd Timmer, Marietta; Third Base - Tom Carroll, St. Thomas (Minn); Outfield - Brad Bonine, St. Thomas (Minn); Tony Wolverton, St. Thomas (Minn); Brendan Chiavaro, Cortland State; Pitcher - Corey Hamman, Montclair State; Brian Whinnery, St. Thomas (Minn); Matt DeSalvo, Marietta; Kris Buirley, Marietta.
2001 Tournament Results
St. Thomas 7, Illinois Wesleyan 0
Cortland State 10, Southern Maine 5
Southern Maine 12 Illinois Wesleyan 2
Montclair State 2, Marietta 1 (10)
St. Thomas 17, Cortland State 5
Salisbury State 6, Cortland State 4
St. Thomas 8, Montclair State 5