Mitch Bonczkowski rounds third on his way to scoring the UMSL baseball team’s lone run in an 11-1 loss to Illinois Springfield in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional. Bonczkowski capped his stellar senior season by going 6 for 11 with three runs, one home run and four RBI in NCAA play, but the Tritons were eliminated after falling to Indianapolis in an elimination game on Saturday. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Baseball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis baseball team won its first NCAA Tournament game since 1996 on Thursday when it rallied for a 10-5 win over third-seeded Wayne State in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional in Springfield, Illinois. But that proved to be the last win of the weekend for the sixth-seeded Tritons, who lost 11-1 against second-seeded Illinois Springfield on Friday and saw their season come to an end with a 14-11 loss in 10 innings against seventh-seeded Indianapolis on Saturday. UMSL gave up six runs on only three hits in the top of the 10th after entering extra innings with the Greyhounds tied at 8. The Tritons helped UIndy with a pair of walks and a fielding error. UMSL could only muster three runs in the bottom half of the inning, including a two-run single by Mitch Bonczkowski. Owen Faith and Bennett Cagle both flied out with two runners on to end the game. Ethan Landis led the Tritons with four of the team’s 19 hits on Saturday. Justin Simard had three hits, and LJ Randle, Bonczkowski, Faith and Cagle each had two. The offense didn’t fair nearly as well the day before against Illinois Springfield starter Ben Benoit, who held them to one earned run on five hits in seven innings. He struck out six. UMSL fell behind Wayne State 4-1 in the first inning of Thursday’s first game but chipped away at the lead, drawing even at 4 with a run on Garrett Strenger‘s sacrifice fly in the eighth. The Tritons blew the game open with six runs in the top of the ninth, including an RBI single by Bonczkowski and a three-run homer by Cagle. Brandon Johnson pitched 7 2/3 innings of dominant relief, holding Wayne State to one earned run on three hits with 10 strikeouts. UMSL finished the season with a record of 34-22. It’s the most wins in a season for the Tritons since they won 39 in 2003. They also won their second conference title and made their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003.
Women’s Golf
The Tritons qualified for medal/match play at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship for the first time in school history this week before falling to top-seeded Wingate 3-2 in the quarterfinal round on Friday at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. UMSL was one of the eight teams to advance out of stroke play, which wrapped up Thursday with the Tritons in eighth in the 18-team field. They had a combined 54-hole score of 925. They were seven shots back of Cal State San Marcos and Tampa, who tied for seventh. Wingate claimed the No. 1 seed with a team total of 877. That set up Friday’s quarterfinal match against the Bulldogs. Senior Wilma Zanderau and freshman Alaina Ervin, UMSL’s top two finishers during stroke play, each registered commanding victories in the head-to-head battle. Zanderau, who finished tied for 15th in stroke play, shot 73 on Friday and routed Wingate’s Haley Paramore by seven strokes. Ervin, who was tied for 42nd during stroke play, carded a 74 on Friday but matched Zanderau’s margin of victory in her win over Olivia Meinecke. The other three matches went in favor of the Bulldogs, however, with junior Hillary Currier falling to Lauren Sutcliffe by one shot, sophomore Emmy Wahl losing to Jackie Gonzalez Howard by five shots and sophomore Mayan Covarrubias finishing six shots behind Amely Bochaton. That brought UMSL’s season to a close. Coach Troy Halterman‘s team still has much to be proud of. In addition to the Tritons’ first medal/match play appearance, they qualified for the national championships for the seventh time in program history and captured their first Great Lakes Valley Conference title.
