Brian Whinnery struck out
nine and gave up just three hits as the University of St. Thomas turned in a strong
performance Friday.
Anchored by Whinnery's pitching, the
Tommies piled up 16 hits as they beat the Titans 7-0 in a first-round game at
the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at Fox Cities Stadium.
St. Thomas (36-9), the two-time defending
runner-up, was simply too much for Illinois Wesleyan (37-14-1), which is making
its first appearance in the national championships.
Whinnery, who improved to 5-4, walked
only two and faced just 25 batters in eight innings. Tom Kelly pitched a scoreless
inning of relief.
"I just go out there and try
to get the first guy in the inning, and I've been able to do a pretty good job
of that recently," Whinnery said. "The third or fourth inning is when
I was able to start mixing it up pretty well."
Illinois Wesleyan coach Dennis Martel
was impressed with Whinnery.
"I think he deserves all the
credit," said Martel, whose team was held to four hits. "He pitched
great. I think his ball jumped up on us ... because every time we swung the bat
it looked like we were right there on the ball. But we'd get it off the handle
or the end of the bat. I think he moved the ball around pretty well, and guys
like that are tough to hit because you never get the barrel on the ball."
The Tommies, on the other hand, had
no trouble getting the barrel on the ball, finishing with five extra-base hits.
Their big boost offensively came in the fourth inning with the score tied 0-0.
Tom Carroll led off with a double
to right field. Two batters later, Casey Garven walked and then Ryan Benson singled.
With the bases loaded, senior Tony Wolverton lined a bases-clearing double to
right field.
"I just focused on bases loaded
and I wanted to do my job, and it ended up working out for us," Wolverton
said. "It was a good team effort today."
St. Thomas wasn't done yet, however.
Kyle Olson followed by driving in Wolverton with a single. The Tommies capped
the five-run inning when Brad Bonine, who reached on an error and stole second,
scored on Matt Buzzell's single to left.
"They swung the bats really well,"
Martel said.
The Tommies also added single runs
in the sixth and ninth innings.
In the sixth, Buzzell's one-out single
to left field drove in Wolverton. Then in the ninth, Carroll blasted a solo home
run over the left-field fence.
Bonine, Carroll and Wolverton each
finished with three hits for St. Thomas, while Buzzell and Benson added two hits
apiece.
Justin Cripe led Illinois Wesleyan
by going two-for-three.
Adam Palmer (8-4) took the loss, giving
up 15 hits, five earned runs and a walk in 8 1/3 innings. Rob Blumberg closed
it for Wesleyan, allowing a run and a hit in 2/3 of an inning. |
