Pinch-hitter Sam Birling bunted home pinch-runner Maria O’Leary with the winning run in the 11th inning to lead St. Thomas to a 1-0 victory over Hamline in the MIAC tournament championship game Sunday at South Field.

The Tommies (37-5 overall, 19-3 MIAC) defeated the Pipers (25-16 overall, 16-6 MIAC) in extra innings after the two teams ended regulation scoreless.

“(Coach Tschida) always has great ideas, and we have to trust he knows what he’s doing when calling those big plays. My hope is that I just make contact and hope that it’s fair so (Maria) can run home,” Birling said.

The play was a suicide squeeze, which is when the batter bunts hoping the player on third can beat the ball home.

The Tommies had nine hits through seven innings, leaving runners on base in four of them.

“We couldn’t get runners on second or third and if we did we’d have two outs. Getting those hits consecutively is really difficult, especially with the way their pitcher was playing today,” Tschida said.

Tommie pitcher Kiersten Anderson-Glass pitched her third straight playoff game, recording 25 straight innings with a shutout.

“I go out to the mound what I do every game, I’m there to pitch and hopefully pitch a shutout,” Anderson-Glass said. “This game took a lot from the whole team. We survived and we played our hearts out. I’m so proud of everyone on the team.”

Anderson-Glass and the Pipers pitcher combined to throw the most pitches ever in a MIAC playoff game, facing 86 batters in total, while also playing in the longest ever MIAC playoff game.

The Tommies and the Pipers battled back and forth throughout the entire game. In the bottom of the 11th inning with one out, the Tommies had two players on base, one on first and one on third. Pinch-hitter Sam Birling stepped up to the plate and bunted the ball, sending home runner Maria O’Leary who beat the ball by a matter of seconds.

“I knew that when Sam stepped up that she would make it happen, we all did,” senior Melissa Barry said. “We’re all so happy to be able to spend another week together, and for us seniors, it’s another week together with our family doing what we love.”

The Tommies now advance to the midwestern Super-Regionals for a three-game tournament, with the victor earning a berth in the College World Series. The date, time and location are yet to be determined. The bracket is to be revealed Monday, May 6 at 12 p.m. on the NCAA website.

“This team has what it takes,” Tschida said.

Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu