NKyTribune staff
WASHINGTON, Pa. — The second-seeded Thomas More College baseball team rallied to post a 4-3 victory against third-seeded Thiel College on Thursday in the opening game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament at Ross Memorial Park.
The Saints improved to 22-17 and advanced to the winner’s bracket game Friday at noon. Thomas More will play either No. 1 seed Washington & Jefferson or No. 4 seed Saint Vincent. Thiel dropped to 15-23 and faces an elimination game Friday at 3 p.m.
Thiel took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning when Adam Giesley hit a two-run homer. The Saints responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning on Ben Laumann’s RBI grounder, cutting the Thiel advantage to 2-1.
Thiel’s Zach Hudecek hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning to extend the lead to 3-1. Thomas More tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when outfielder Brady Reynolds lined a two-out, two-run single.
Thomas More pushed across a run on a Thiel error in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead. The Saints retired Thiel in order in the top of the ninth to seal the victory.
Thomas More senior pitcher Jayson Essell earned the complete-game win, giving up three runs (all earned) on 10 hits, while striking out three in nine innings.
FINKE EARNS HONOR: Thomas More softball player Laura Finke has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District II Team, which is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of the America.
Finke will graduate this weekend with a 3.95 grade point average in biology. She has started all 45 games for the Saints and has a .399 batting average with two triples, seven doubles, 43 runs scored and 18 RBI.
Finke is 25-for-29 in stolen base attempts and has a .985 fielding percentage with 57 putouts. She also has 204 career hits, which ties her for first in the Thomas More record book with Kim Kreimer (2004-07).
By virtue of making the Academic All-District II team, Finke advances to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Team ballot. This is the third straight season that she has been named Academic All-District II.
To be nominated for Google Cloud Academic All-District, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve with at least a 3.30 GPA.
