Strong Hitting and Pitching Leads St. Thomas to Win

Box Score

     St. Thomas used a 22-hit attack to eliminate Dominican from the NCAA Division III baseball tournament with a 22-3 victory Thursday morning in Wisconsin Rapids.

     Eric Bloom had a two run-scoring single with two outs in the top of the first as the Tommies jumped in front of the Stars early and never looked back. Bloom was three-for five in the game with five runs driven in. Sean Young added a two run-scoring single and Jordan Roering added a run-scoring double in the third as St. Thomas led 5-0 through three.

     Mike Kimlinger�s two-run home run highlighted a five-run fourth inning for St. Thomas. The Tommies also scored in the sixth to lead 11-0. Mark Higgins put Dominican on the board with his third home run of the year as he hit a two-run shot to center. Dominican tallied another run in the bottom of the eighth.

     St. Thomas blew the game wide open late, scoring 11 runs on eight hits in the top of the ninth. Mark Boland had two hits in the inning as he drove in three runs. Will Montgomery improved to 4-1 with the victory, pitching eight strong innings. Montgomery allowed two earned runs on seven hits as he struck out two.

     St. Thomas (30-10) advanced to play St. Scholastica this afternoon at 4:30. Dominican finished it season 21-21 after making its first NCAA tournament appearance.