College baseball: CSS uses fast start to beat Bethany Lutheran; Rodriguez pitches UWS past Crown

Duluth News Tribune, Minn.
·2 min read

May 21—T.J. Martin pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and St. Scholastica jumped out early and then held on to defeat Bethany Lutheran 3-2 in its UMAC Baseball Tournament opener Thursday at Reynolds Field in St. Paul.

CSS got all the runs it needed in the bottom of the first as the Saints got RBIs on Mitchell Olson's double, Jake Schelonka's groundout and Jack Tiemann's single to left. Olson has now reached base in 16 straight games.

Martin, a sophomore from Minneapolis, scattered eight hits and allowed just one run, with eight strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore reliever Jack Perala of Virginia gave up a run but was able to close it out, with six of his seven outs coming via strikeouts as the two Saints pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts.

Junior catcher Cody Venske was the lone CSS player with multiple hits with a pair, including a double, for the Saints (19-7), who snapped a four-game losing streak in the UMAC tournament.

Liam Peterson had two hits, including a solo home run in the eighth to lead the Vikings (15-14), who outhit CSS 10-7 but left eight runners on base. The seven hits were a season-low for the Saints.

Bethany Lutheran will play the loser of Friday's early game between Northwestern and Wisconsin-Superior at 4 p.m. Friday while St. Scholastica will play the winner of that game at 7 p.m. Friday.

Wisconsin-Superior 4, Crown 1

Ryan Rodriguez pitched 8 1/3 stellar innings and the Yellowjackets finally found a little offense in Thursday's single-elimination opener at Reynolds Field.

Rodriguez, a junior lefthander from Chaska, Minnesota, allowed just one run on four hits, with six strikeouts to one walk. Freshman Matt Tappe got the last two outs for his third save of the season.

The game was tied through six innings when junior third baseman Nick Shea of Pengilly got things started with a solo home run in the top of the seventh and Ben Rhodes and Christian Garcia followed with RBI singles. Garcia and Sam McNosky had two hits apiece to lead the fifth-seeded Yellowjackets (16-19).

Nicholas Schroedle took the loss for Crown despite allowing just three runs in 6 1/3 innings and Rhys Dewick hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh for the fourth-seeded Storm (19-22).

UWS advanced to play top-seeded Northwestern (29-10) at 1 p.m. Friday at Reynolds Field.