MINNEAPOLIS — St. Thomas baseball was swept by St. John’s University Wednesday at U.S. Bank Stadium, losing both games 3-2. This marks seven straight losses to the Johnnies, dating back to May of 2018.
The Tommies (3-3) had a difficult day at the plate against the Johnnies (9-0) pitchers in an eight-hit total outing for the Tommies.
Game 1
St. Thomas redshirt first-year infielder Matthew Enck began a promising seventh inning and eventually made it to third before a flyout to right field by fifth-year outfielder Josh Thorp ended the game.
St. John’s sophomore pitcher Alex Otto struck out four and allowed only one hit in four innings of work after replacing sophomore Sam Hanson in the second inning after he walked four straight and surrendered two runs.
Tommie senior pitcher Graham Laubscher held that lead, striking out seven Johnnies, until he was pulled in the top of the sixth inning after giving up three hits in a row.
Redshirt sophomore pitcher T.J. Constertina finished out the game and did not give up a hit.
“It definitely means a little more when we’re playing against them, everyone knows that,” Constertina said. “We always want to come out with a win and unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”
St. John’s junior outfielder Soren Roe and junior pitcher Nathan Brandecker each hit RBI fly balls to pull them ahead of the Tommies 3-2 to end the sixth inning.
Game 2
A clutch double by St. Thomas pinch hitter redshirt sophomore Charlie Bartholomew scored two runs and tied the game 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning but Brandecker ended the game in the eighth inning with a walk-off single into right field to give the Johnnies a 3-2 win.
At the bottom of the eighth inning, Brandecker hit a ball into right field, off of reliever Andrew Tri, giving the Johnnies an RBI to end the game.
“It was a little nerve racking, two outs and down to our last play but good things happen when you put the ball in play so it’s only going to get better from here,” Bartholomew said.
The game began with a slow start before the Tommies surrendered a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to Brandecker with a runner on second, giving St. John’s a 2-0 lead for much of the game.
The Tommies struggled offensively until the seventh inning as they struck out nine times and left four batters on base in the game.
“It’s a good experience and something we’ll learn from to help us out down the road,” Constertina said.
St. Thomas is scheduled to host the University of Northwestern-St. Paul Monday in a single game at 3:30 p.m. at Koch Diamond.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.
Olivia Paradise can be reached at para4336@stthomas.edu.