St. Olaf Scores Early and Often to Defeat Dominican

Box Score

     St. Olaf College scored in six of the eight innings they batted, including more than one run in five of those six, as it defeated Dominican University 17-8 in a NCAA Division III first round game in Wisconsin Rapids.

     St. Olaf jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning that included a two-run scoring single by Luke Gagnon. After Dominican scored in the top of the second, the game was delayed due to weather that included hail at times in the bottom half of the second inning. Once play resumed, the Oles wasted little time scoring again as Chris Terrazas hit a single with bases loaded to drive in two more runs. Terrazas went four-for-five on the day with a pair of doubles.

     St. Olaf had season highs in runs scored and hits as the Oles had 24 hits on the afternoon. Brett Thoreson was perfect at the plate going five-for-five while driving in five runs. Andrew Schmiesing had two home runs as he drove in four runs in the game.

     Dominican, making its first NCAA tournament appearance, scored two runs in the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings. Nate Mercado drove in a pair of runs with a home run to left field in the eighth. Designated hitter Mike Eifel also drove in a pair of runs for the Stars. St. Olaf led 10-2 in the fourth and Dominican closed to within 10-6 in the sixth, but the Oles scored five times in the bottom of the sixth to regain control.

     Todd Mathison improved to 9-0 for the season as he pitched five innings allowing four runs on three hits while striking out five. Three Oles combined to pitch the final four innings. Brett Dvorak took the loss for the Stars, falling to 5-4 for the year. Dvorak pitched three innings giving up seven earned runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts.

     St. Olaf will play the winner of St. Thomas and Coe on Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. Dominican will play the loser of the St. Thomas and Coe contest at 9:30 Thursday morning.