St. Thomas Bursts Past Ripon to Remain Undefeated at Regional

Box Score

     St. Thomas finally broke through against an unhittable Ripon pitching staff in the fourth inning and exploded for a 9-3 victory on Thursday to remain the lone undefeated team at the NCAA Division III baseball regional in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

     The Red Hawks, who had a no-hitter from Jordan Baitinger in Wednesday�s opener against St. Olaf, owned a 1-0 lead through three innings behind Greg Basthemer, who held St. Thomas without a hit through that point. However, the Tommies busted out in the fourth as Matt Olson led off the winning with a walk and then three straight batters ripped line drive hits, resulting in a four-run inning.

     Ripon dropped to 22-14 with the loss and will play UW-Stevens Point in an elimination game on Friday at noon. St. Thomas is now 33-10 and faces the winner Friday at 7 p.m.

     The Red Hawks took the early lead when John Dunlavy and Mac Shumann hit back-to-back doubles with two outs in the first inning.

     Basthemer held the Tommies to just one baserunner until their outburst in the fourth as Chris Bullis lined a double down the line and Eric Fleming followed with a two-run double to score Olson and Bullis. Dan Leslie and Mark Boland added run-scoring singles before the final three batters made outs.

     St. Thomas scored three more in the fifth as Fleming and Leslie had consecutive two-out, run-scoring singles to chase Basthemer and Boland later drove in a run on an infield single for a 7-1 lead. Basthemer went four and two-thirds innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs, which were all earned. Bullis, who finished three-for-five, delivered a two-run single in the sixth for a 9-1 lead.

     Ripon had several scoring opportunities, getting two walks to lead off the fourth and then loading the bases with one out in the fifth before an interference call on a runner attempting to break up a double play ended the inning. The Red Hawks also had two runners on base in the seventh, but hit into another double play before finally breaking through in the eighth. The first two runners singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Bo Johnson and a single by Brandan Birschbach.

     Leslie, who was two-for-four, earned the pitching victory for the Tommies, allowing five hits and one earned run over six innings. Will Montgomery pitched the final three innings for a save.

     Fleming was two-for-three with three RBI�s and Boland was two-for-five for St. Thomas. Dunlavy was three-for-five, while Shumann was two-for-three and Bryant Bullock finished two-for-four.