MINNETONKA, Minn. — Coming off the program’s first win in the MIAC baseball tournament, Bethel rode a wave of energy heading into its semifinal tilt with top-seeded St. Thomas Saturday afternoon at Veterans Field.
That energy was extinguished quickly as right fielder Ryan Gerber’s perfect day at the plate, coupled with a strong start from All-American pitcher Dylan Thomas, were too much for the Royals (24-15) to handle as the Tommies (32-5) ran away with a 10-3 win.
Gerber, who went 4-for-4, missing the cycle by a double, said the way the team is hitting the ball right now, the Tommies are “tough to beat.”
“We’ve been having quality at-bats for the last month or so,” Gerber said. “It’s carried over to now.”
The win puts the Tommies in their second consecutive MIAC title game where they will face the winner of second-seeded Concordia-Moorhead and third-seeded Augsburg. St. Thomas swept the season series with both squads. The Tommies will look for their first MIAC tournament title since 2010.
“The team came out and played well today, especially early,” coach Chris Olean said.
The Tommies accumulated 10 runs on 14 hits, maybe none bigger than Gerber’s first at-bat in the bottom of the second.
With two runners on, Gerber smacked the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for a three-run homer. He’d add a triple and two singles to his afternoon scorecard and finish with four RBI.
“I’ve been hitting pretty well,” Gerber said. “It felt pretty good coming off the bat and luckily it landed over the fence.”
That put the Tommies up 3-0 and signaled what became a long afternoon for the Royals’ pitching staff. St. Thomas added another run in the third inning, then three in each of the fourth and fifth to put the game almost out of reach at 10-0 heading into the sixth inning.
Coming into today’s game, St. Thomas had outscored its opponents 150-30 since April 25.
The offensive run support was more than enough for Thomas, who posted his seventh win of the season.
“When our bats are going, it makes my job a lot easier,” Thomas said. “It takes all the pressure off me on the mound when we get scoring early on.”
The Tommies ran into a spot of bother in the top half of the sixth. Bethel plated three runs in the inning, courtesy of a Tommie error on a missed double-play turn at second base. Half of Bethel’s total hits for the game (4) game in the inning.
The pitching recovered for the rest of the contest as the combination of Thomas and relief pitcher Tommy Danczyk held the Royals to one hit during the last three innings.
“I did a good job of placing my pitches today,” Thomas said of his command on the mound, walking none and striking out three. “I was hitting my spots, especially on the inner half of the plate.”
St. Thomas received strong production from its bottom half of the order, with the 6-8 hitters accounting for nine of the Tommies’ 14 hits.
“Overall, that’s a good performance against a good team,” Olean said. “We’ll just have to come out tomorrow and get good pitching like we saw today.”
Without knowing its opponent for Sunday’s title game, Gerber said the team just needs to prepare like it would for any other game.
“We know we’re going to face a good team regardless tomorrow,” Gerber said. “We’ll just take the momentum from today and hopefully see a similar result.”
Ross Schreck can be reached at schr8250@stthomas.edu.