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Box Score 2 (CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – The top-seeded Thomas More College baseball team went 1-1 today (Saturday, May 13, 2016) on the second day of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball Championship Tournament at Thomas More Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. The Saints fell to third-seeded Washington & Jefferson College, 11-2, but defeated second-seeded Thiel College, 16-12, in 10 innings in an elimination game.
With the split the Saints are 28-10 overall and will play Washington & Jefferson in the championship series tomorrow starting at 12 p.m. Thomas More must beat W&J twice to win the title.
In the first game of the day, W&J scored one run in the first, four in the second, two in the fourth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh, while Thomas More plated two runs in the sixth.
Freshman catch Sam Hauer (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) led the team at the plate as he was two for-four.
Senior pitcher Brandon Humphrey (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) suffered the loss as he pitched two innings with five runs (two earned) on five hits.
In the elimination game, Thomas More took an early 7-0 lead with one run in the first and six in the second. Thiel tied the game in the fourth when it plated seven runs and then took the lead at 8-7 with a run in the fifth. The Saints regained the lead at 9-8 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Thiel would then score two in the seventh and one in the eighth to take an 11-9 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Thomas More scored three runs to take a 12-11 lead, but Thiel would plate a run in the top of the ninth and hold the Saints scoreless in the bottom of the inning to force extra inning. After Thomas More held Thiel scoreless in the top of the 10th inning, the Saints loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore second baseman Ben Laumann (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) came to the plate and hit a walk-off grand slam to center field and propel the Saints to a 16-12 win and to tomorrow's championship series.
Laumann led the Saints at the plate as he was two-for-six with a home run, three runs scored and six runs batted-in. Senior first baseman Donovan Pogue (Sharonville, Ohio/St. Xavier) was two-for-four, with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI and sophomore third baseman Bailey Abbatiello (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) was two-for-four with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI.
Junior pitcher Ken Ruberg (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) earned the win as he pitched three innings of relief and gave up two runs (both earned) on four hits and struck out three.
