Junior Andy King and senior Andy Powell each drove in two runs for Hamline Saturday as the Pipers beat the Tommies 4-3 at Veterans Field in Minnetonka.

Home runs by J.D. Dorgan and Nick Reichert were not enough for the Tommies, who play Macalester at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Hamline has beaten St. Thomas and Macalester in the MIAC tournament, but the winner of tonight’s St. Thomas-Macalester game will get another shot at the Pipers in tomorrow’s championship.

“Hamline is a scrappy team,” said junior Bryce Gapinski, the Tommies startring pitcher. “They were bunting a lot and crowding the plate all game.”

Dorgan put the Tommies up 2-0 in the top of the first inning when he hit a two-run home run over the short left field fence, but the Pipers answered in the bottom of the inning.

Powell took a Gapinski pitch in the leg to lead off and advanced to second after Gapinski walked right fielder Tony Rogers on four pitches. Both came in to score on King’s single. Powell has been hit by pitches more times than any other MIAC player this season.

“It was tough to get settled in,” Gapinski said. “With [Powell], if you threw it an inch off the plate you’d hit him.”

Reichert hit a Cass Kreitlow pitch over the right field fence in the second inning. The ball sailed past the scoreboard showing a 3-2 Tommie lead. Kreitlow held the Tommies scoreless for the next seven innings.

Gapinski hit Hamline first baseman J.D. Modrynski with a wild pitch in the bottom half of the second inning. Modrynski and center fielder Cory Miller scored on a Powell double to give the Pipers a 4-3 lead. Gapinski “settled in” after the second, he said.

“Eventually I started getting some of those inside calls,” Gapinski said. “The third inning was when I really started getting warmed up.”

The Tommies rallied in the eighth inning to load the bases. Dorgan stepped to the plate with two outs and the Tommies still trailing by one. He lined a Kreitlow pitch up the middle, but Powell made a diving catch at second base to end the inning.

“We weren’t catching the breaks today,” St. Thomas coach Chris Olean said. “If that line drive gets past the second baseman we would have had a one run lead in the ninth inning.”

St. Thomas will have to beat Macalaster tonight and beat Hamline twice tomorrow to win the MIAC tournament, but the Tommies still could get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament if they lose tonight.

“We don’t want to rely on that,” said junior Charles Bruchu, the Tommies’ second baseman. “We never want to leave our fate at the hands of a committee.”

Check back for details on tonight’s game.

Alex Keil can be reached at amkeil@stthomas.edu