First-year left fielder Brigs Richartz was a key bat for the Tommies, hitting four for four with a three-run home runs, as the St. Thomas baseball team defeated Nebraska-Omaha 6-4 Thursday at Koch Diamond.
The Tommies (14-29, 8-14 Summit League) tied their season-high for hits with 15, out hitting the Mavericks (23-27, 12-10) by 10. First-year pitcher Sam Schlecht picked up his first collegiate win, pitching 4.1 innings of relief while allowing only three baserunners.
“We were pretty complete today,” coach Chris Olean said. “We came off a really rough weekend at SDSU so I think it’s nice to have them have a little reward for their work.”
Before anything could get started, the game was delayed for about two hours due to severe weather in the area. Sophomore Kolby Gartner was set to start but only pitched one inning before the delay.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early four-run lead in the third, preying on junior Chris Chiriboga’s shaky control. Chiriboga walked five in the inning, three of which came around to score. Senior designated hitter Drew Hmielewski added another run for the Mavericks, scoring sophomore third baseman Mike Boeve.
Schlecht entered the game in relief and got a bases-loaded flyout to end the inning.
“I love the pressure,” Schlecht said. “I think it’s a lot of fun to pitch in high-pressure situations; it’s a lot of fun to help the team win a game.”
The Tommies were kept off the board until the fifth inning. Sophomore shortstop Matt Enck and sophomore second baseman Sam Kulesa led off with back-to-back singles. They advanced on a groundout and Enck scored from third on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Kyle Halverson.
With two outs, sophomore catcher Max Moris walked and Richartz brought him and Kulesa home with a game-tying home run. The Tommies got another run after DH Kirby Pieri singled junior first baseman Charlie Bartholomew home from second to put the Tommies up 5-4.
“It felt good coming off the bat,” Richartz said. “It’s tough to come back from that four spot, but I think our offense overall did really well.”
Bartholomew gave the Tommies some insurance in the seventh, singling Moris home from third to extend the Tommies’ lead to two runs.
First-year pitcher Carl Cano pitched the last two innings scoreless for the Tommies, picking up his second save of the season.
“A lot of good individual performances but collectively a lot of good plays,” Olean said. “Pitching MVP is probably Sam Schlecht; he hasn’t been stretched at all this year, and for him to give us that many innings and keep us right there was huge.”
The Tommies play the second game of the series Friday at 3 p.m. at Koch Diamond. They will also honor their seniors before the game.
“It’s our last week of baseball; we’ve got nothing else to really play for, we can’t play in the tournament,” Richartz said. “So I think we’re playing hard for our seniors.”
Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu