Adrian, Mich. – The Saints had a chance to make the WHAC Tournament Championship Series today (May 3) with a rematch against the Indiana Tech Warriors. It was going to be an uphill battle as AQ needed to knock off IIT twice to advance out of the Concordia pod. Doing so would give the Saints a chance at the WHAC Tournament Championship and a trip to nationals.
IIT took a 9-3 lead in the fourth inning. The Saints slowly battled back, cutting the deficit to just two runs in the ninth inning. However, AQ could not quite complete the comeback, falling to Indiana Tech once more this season and getting eliminated from the postseason.
Indiana Tech 9, Aquinas 7
The Warriors were coming off a dominant 24-2 showing over Concordia yesterday and they showed no signs of slowing down to start the game today. IIT ripped four hits and reached on one error to take a three-run lead in the home half of the first.
Aquinas immediately generated a massive response.
Chase Ingersoll reached on a passed ball strikeout,
JD Gillies singled, and
Mark Binkowski walked to load the bases with no outs.
Luke LaCross singled to drive in the first run before AQ scored once more off of another passed ball. A sacrifice fly from
Nathan Wilcox knotted the game at three.
The game was not tied for long as Indiana Tech added on another two runs in the bottom of the second to reclaim the lead. Another offensive outburst from IIT in the fourth put AQ behind by six runs with a lot of work needed to catch up.
AQ got the bats going in the top of the sixth with a two-out rally. Singles from
Ramsey Bousseau and
Nicolas Verdugo drove in two runs to bring Aquinas within three with three innings remaining.
The Saints avoided a disaster in the bottom of the seventh, as AQ used three different pitchers in the inning to get out of a bases-loaded jam. Neither team was able to score in the eighth, giving AQ three more outs to stay alive and extend its season.
Verdugo ripped a leadoff double to get the dugout fired up, but a strikeout and a flyout on the next two at-bats gave AQ just one more out. Gillies singled to bring the tying run to the plate. A wild pitch scored a run, but the Saints unfortunately struck out to end the game 9-7 in favor of IIT.
By the Numbers
Indiana Tech put together a strong game with 19 hits and eight earned runs. Surprisingly, AQ was unable to generate one strikeout with all 24 hours coming by way of the defense.
Verdugo, Bousseau, and Binkowski all recorded two hits to lead the team. Bousseau, LaCross, and
Ryan Gillings were the other three to reach base by way of a hit.
With the season coming to a close, Verdugo led the team with a .377 batting average. Bousseau finished his incredible freshman season with a .364 batting average, a 1.013 OPS, and 68 hits.
Grant Martin had the most home runs (13) and runs batted in (49).
On the pitching front,
Conor Gausselin finished his season with a 2.41 ERA, a 6-4 record, and a team-high 65 strikeouts.
Mason Hill had one of the best seasons for a relief pitcher in recent memory. In 23 appearances, he allowed an earned run in just three of those outings. The graduate student was lights out all year, posting a 1.28 ERA with 60 strikeouts over 42.1 innings pitched. He also holds the all-time record for most career pitching appearances with 69.
Up Next
The Saints will turn their attention to the 2025 season after today's result.
