05/17/07

Hoping to bounce back from a tough day in the field in Wednesday's loss to UW-Stevens Point at the NCAA Midwest Regional, St. Scholastica (36-8) fared only a little better on Thursday against UW-Oshkosh (33-11), their season ending with an 11-5 loss to the Titans.

Six errors contributed to nine unearned runs against the Pointers in Wednesday's loss and against the Titans they made four more errors. For the season the Saints had committed only 41 errors in 42 games and were seventh in the nation with a .968 fielding percentage. In one fell swoop they accounted for 20 percent of their season errors total in only two games.

Oshkosh jumped ahead in the early going using a pair of two-run homeruns off Saints starter Mark Erickson to go up 6-0 after the third inning.

The Saints began to rally in the fifth as they stroked four consecutive singles to open the inning and chase Titan starter Jeremy Rubens.

Steve Gerten's single, the fourth in the string, brought home Sean Tracy and then a wild pitch from reliever Cal Stanke allowed Keith Ritsche to score. Following a Stanke walk to Chad Weiss that again loaded the bases, Oshkosh made their second pitching change of the inning bringing in Brian Gerl to try to end the threat.

Blake Eller's ground out to the right side brought Seth Engberg in for the third run of the inning. Gerl then retired the next two batters to end the inning but the Saints had cut the lead in half.

Oshkosh picked up a two out solo homerun in the top half of the next inning but consecutive singles from Ritsche and Engberg, followed by another RBI single from Gerten brought the Saints back within three at 7-4 heading into the top of the seventh.

A two-out error proved costly to the Saints in the seventh as Oshkosh pushed three unearned runs across the plate to once again answer a Saints score from the previous half inning.

With the outs to the end of their season ticking down, St. Scholastica tried to rally again as Mike Lewis singled to lead off the eighth inning. Lewis moved into scoring position with only his third stolen base of the year then came home on a Ritsche double down the left field line. Gerl induced the next two Saints batters to hit harmless fly ball outs, closing the door on a Saints comeback once again.

Oshkosh scored one more time in the top of the ninth -- the third time the Titans answered a Saints run with one of their own in the next half inning -- and the Saints went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth to put a sad ending on 10 St. Scholastica senior's final season.

Erickson, one of the seniors, took the loss for St. Scholastica falling to 3-2 on the year after allowing six runs on only five hits and a walk in four and a third innings. Ritsche, another senior, pitched the final four and two-thirds innings allowing five runs, three unearned, on seven hits and a walk.

Ritsche led the Saints at the plate with a 3-for-4 day, scoring twice and collecting an RBI. Gerten finished with two hits and two RBI in the loss.

The bottom four batters in the Saints lineup -- Tracy, Ritsche, Engberg, and Gerten -- accounted for nine of the team's 10 hits, scored four of their five runs, and had three RBIs.

The pair of losses at the Regional puts an end to the St. Scholastica careers of 10 seniors: Mark Erickson (P), Daryl Fuchihara (OF), Eric Hagen (P), Seth Harvey (C), Mark Moriarty (P), Keith Ritsche (P/IF), Kyle Rizzi (2B), Brandon Swartz (2B), Sean Tracy (1B), and Chad Weiss (OF).

Together these players have combined for 151 wins and a winning percentage of .846, both of which are the best four year marks of any graduating class in Saints baseball history.