Michael DeBord slides in safely after a Shane Swearingen double to score Wooster's first run in the fifth inning of game one.

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – Dan Leslie of the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) stroked a one-out single through the left side and teammate Matt Olson easily beat the throw home, giving the Tommies a 3-2, 12-inning victory in the national championship game to close the NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship late Tuesday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

St. Thomas (41-13), which claims its second national title, also doing so in 2001, had forced a decisive game by defeating Wooster (43-11) earlier Tuesday by a 6-4 score.

For the Fighting Scots, it marks their second runner-up finish in the NCAA finals, the first coming in 1997.

Late in the "second" championship game, the Tommies continually threatened to score on Mark Miller (Convoy, Ohio / Crestview), who put forth a gutsy effort by pitching all 11.1 innings. St. Thomas had the winning run in scoring position during the eighth, ninth, 10th, and 11th, only to see Miller work out of each jam, including three of the team's five double plays being turned over that stretch.

In the bottom of the 12th, Olson lined a sharp single to left field – the eighth time the Tommies' leadoff hitter reached safely during the game. He quickly moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by clean-up hitter Brian Schmitz. Leslie, who had hit into double plays his two previous times at the plate, came up, worked the count to 3-2, fouled off one pitch, and then sent one between the shortstop and third base. Wooster's left fielder came up with the ball cleanly, but the speedy Olson slid safely home.

While St. Thomas's offense was steadily putting runners on base, its relief pitcher, Brandon Stone, was shutting down the Scots' bats. He entered in the top of the sixth, with his team down 2-1, and tossed three-hit scoreless ball over the final seven innings.

Wooster's best chance to score against Stone came in the eighth when Sean Karpen (Venetia, Pa. / Peters Twp.) snuck a one-out single through the right side and reached second on a sacrifice bunt by John Warren (New Castle, Pa. / Union Area), who excelled defensively during the game, including a school-record 10 assists. Warren also accounted for the Scots' only hit during extra innings – a one-out line-drive single to right in the 11th.

Matt Groezinger is met by his teammates at home plate after hitting a two-run homer in the fourth inning of the "second" championship game with St. Thomas.

The Scots' lone offense of the game came on a two-run blast by Matt Groezinger (Columbus, Ohio / Upper Arlington) in the fourth inning. Stu Beath (St. Louis, Mo. / Avon Old Farms – Conn.) had singled prior to Groezinger's home run, which easily cleared the double-tiered billboards in left field. That gave Wooster its first lead of the day at 2-1.

The Tommies tied it up in the sixth, which started with a leadoff single from Olson. A walk ensued and he eventually scored via a sacrifice fly.

Offensively for the game, Karpen and Zack Vesco (Pickerington, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) each had two hits, posting 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 stat lines, respectively, while Miller was the tough-luck losing pitcher (11-2). Also of note, Groezinger set a school record with 20 putouts.

During the day's first game, St. Thomas got a complete-game performance from Matt Schuld, holding off a late rally by the Scots to pull out the two-run victory. The Tommies scored twice in the fourth and seventh innings to build a 4-1 lead.

Shane Swearingen (Hilliard, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) kicked off a three-run rally in the eighth inning by homering for the first time this season, as he turned on an inside pitch and drove it over the left-field fence. Warren then lined a sharp single to centerfield, Karpen drew a walk, and Luke Sutton (Galion, Ohio / Galion) laid down a sacrifice bunt for the fifth time during the finals. Beath plated them both via a one-out double to right-center, tying the game, 4-4, however, Wooster could do no further damage.

St. Thomas came right back with two runs in the ninth, thanks in part to a leadoff error. Schmitz gave the Tommies the lead via an RBI single through the right side, and then they executed their second squeeze bunt of the game for the insurance run.

Schuld limited the Scots to the four runs on nine hits, while improving to 12-1 on the season, and Justin McDowell (Willard, Ohio / Willard) took his first postseason loss and just his third overall (13-3). McDowell set the single-season school record for innings pitched (113.2) in the process.

Wooster, which is still in search of its first team national championship since 1975, had Beath, Karpen, Miller, and Vesco named to the all-tournament team.