On a sun-filled spring afternoon in St. Paul, the St. Thomas baseball team split a pair of games with rival St. John’s.

The Tommies (17-9 overall, 8-2 MIAC) out-slugged the Johnnies (14-12 overall, 5-5 MIAC) 12-8 in game one, before falling 5-4 in a more defensive affair in game two.

“OK is about the best I can put today,” coach Chris Olean said. “Starting pitching – those two (Veglahn and Reed) – have been our one and two all year, and they have both thrown significantly better than that, but the bullpen came in and did a great job.”

The Johnnies opened the scoring in the top of the second inning on a two-run triple by first baseman Patrick Strey. After two singles put runners on first and third, Strey brought in both with a line-drive down the right field line. The Johnnies tacked on another run after an Aaron Pfaff single to center scored Strey from third.

The Tommies were quick to answer, recording two runs in the bottom of the inning. St. John’s starting pitcher Tyler Delwiche struggled to find the plate, walking both Jake Smith and Zach Gottfredsen with the bases loaded, before getting out of the jam after a beautiful play by shortstop Logan Hershey to initiate a double play.

The Johnnies continued to have success against St. Thomas starter Eric Veglahn in the top of the third, pushing across four runs with five hits and a Waylon Bemboom error, to increase the lead to 7-2.

Not to be outdone, the Tommies exploded for 10 runs in the bottom half of the inning. Delwiche was removed from the game after only two and two-thirds innings, with the score at 7-7.

The pitching change did not affect the Tommies, however, who greeted new pitcher Brad Luebbert with three consecutive extra-base hits to gain a 12-7 lead after three innings.

The game quieted down significantly from there, with pitchers on both sides taking over the last three and a half innings.

St. Thomas pitcher Greg Clute replaced Veglahn in the fourth and found his rhythm right away. He pitched the final four innings, only giving up two hits and one unearned run to help the Tommies secure a 12-8 win.

“I just tried to go out there and execute pitches,” Clute said. “As a pitcher, you just have to take it one pitch at a time. I tried to stay low and get my breaking stuff over. I knew if I at least did that, I’d get some ground balls.”

Game two started much like game one, with St. John’s again opening the scoring in the top of the second inning on an RBI double off the top of the wall by second baseman Brett Becker.

Again, St. Thomas responded in the bottom of the second. After designated hitter Ben Waltz was hit by a pitch and left fielder Jimmy Dolan walked, Waltz and Dolan moved to second and third on a wild pitch, before shortstop Brady Johnson drove them home with a two-RBI single to right.

The seesaw battle continued in the top of the fourth, with St. John’s scoring on a wild pitch from Tommie starter Dominic Reed, knotting the score at two.

St. John’s continued to score in the top of fifth, adding three more runs. With runners on first and second, a throwing error from St. Thomas third baseman Cory Quinlan on a bunt attempt allowed two crucial runs to score.

“The second game came down to the sacrifice bunt that got by over at first, and that was the difference in the game,” Olean said. “Other than that we played it pretty close to the vest and had a little fight in us at the end of the game.”

A single by St. John’s right fielder Mike Stegora later in the fifth extended the lead to 5-2, chasing Reed from the game before he could record an out in the inning. Drew Molin replaced Reed and promptly retired the next three batters.

“I would say (Veglahn and Reed) had a little bit of an off day, but their stuff was still there. They just got hit around a little bit, and that happens in baseball,” catcher Anthony Winters said. “They are our aces though, so next week they will be just as good (as normal).”

St. Thomas got one back in the bottom of the sixth to close the gap to two runs. Winters led off the inning with a triple, later scoring on a sacrifice fly from Waltz.

After a scoreless seventh and eighth innings, the Tommies mounted a rally in the ninth but fell just short, losing by a final score of 5-4.

Johnnie starter Collin Felhaber pitched a stellar game, surrendering only three hits while striking out seven in seven innings of work.

“The fact that both of our starters were not sharp and we were in both ballgames is a positive,” Olean said. “We also had guys who had some pretty good at-bats and grinded a little bit. At the end though, we’re still searching for some guys to step up when the situation is on the line.”

St. Thomas travels to Concordia-Moorhead for a doubleheader Saturday.

William Faust can be reached at faus5612@stthomas.edu.