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MINNETONKA, Minn. – For pitcher Colin Wendinger and the rest of the Tommie pitching staff, it all comes down to one thing: location. When they’re locating pitches, the pitches are nearly unhittable, as Concordia-Moorhead found out Sunday afternoon.
St. Thomas (33-5) accumulated 15 strikeouts from its four pitchers. That and timely hitting from the entire lineup helped the team clinch its first MIAC tournament title since 2010 in its 11-2 trouncing of Concordia-Moorhead (19-15) at Veterans Field.
The win gives the Tommies the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It’s St. Thomas’ 18th bid in the last 19 years to the NCAA tournament.
“I’m very proud of the way our guys played today,” coach Chris Olean said while smiling ear-to-ear. “We played well today and all weekend.”
Pitching continues to be a strong point for the Tommies this season as the right-hander Wendinger was given the nod for today’s title game start. At one point in the game, Wendinger struck out seven straight Cobbers. He’d finish with eight strikeouts in just four innings of work.
“We just came out and tried to play loose,” Wendinger said. “I found my groove after the first inning, started locating my pitches and the rest took care of itself.”
His coach echoed those sentiments.
“When he’s locating that curveball and two-seam fastball, he’s very tough,” Olean said.
That first inning Wendinger referenced, he allowed two walks and struck out one. That groove he referenced: Concordia-Moorhead did not have another runner reach base until the fifth, when reliever Mark Dominik replaced Wendinger.
The Tommies continued their torrent hitting, scoring two in the first inning. They added another in the fourth, two in the fifth and three in the sixth to put the team up 8-1 heading into the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh, right fielder Ryan Gerber blasted a 3-run homer to right field on the first pitch he saw, giving the Tommies an 11-1 lead. It was his second 3-run round-tripper in as many days on the first pitch. He finished with four RBI on the day.
On whether he’s always looking to hit the first pitch, “I guess it’s just the approach I have right now,” Gerber chuckled.
All nine starters collected at least one hit, which Olean said makes his team “pretty balanced.”
“That’s what you need because not everybody is going to be hot all the time,” Olean said. “You need that production from top to bottom if your big guys aren’t going.”
That balanced lineup produced 17 hits to Concordia-Moorhead’s four. The pitching foursome of Wendinger, Dominik, Matt Behounek and Steve Maher kept Cobber left fielder Devin Johnson, who had two home runs in yesterday’s semifinal win against Augsburg, at bay, allowing him to reach base only once.
The Tommies outscored their opponents 21-5 in two games at the tournament and produced 171 runs since April 25. Designated hitter Dylan Thomas went 4-for-5 on the afternoon with two doubles and two RBI. Center fielder Ben Podobinski and shortstop Jon Kinsel each went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI.
Wendinger called his team’s performance this weekend at the plate “tremendous.”
“Our batters this year have done a great job just putting up runs and taking the stress of the pitchers,” Wendinger said. “You don’t have to be perfect every pitch. When they’re putting up runs, you can attack the zone. It all works out when you do that.”
With the MIAC regular season and tournament championships under its belt, the team is confident as it heads into regionals.
“We’re as hot as we’ve been all year,” Wendinger said. “If we keep our bats going, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
St. Thomas will learn its NCAA tournament fate Monday at 10 a.m. during an online selection show.
Ross Schreck can be reached at schr8250@stthomas.edu.