Thomas More spring sports notebook: 1st NCAA Div. II season in GMAC a challenging one for Saints

By Dan Weber NKyTribune sports reporter It hasn’t been an easy first spring season for Thomas More in the NCAA’s Division II Great Midwest Athletic Conference. While football in the fall and men’s and women’s basketball in the winter managed to hang in there, spring is turning into another story – especially for the lead sports of baseball and softball. Baseball stands at 14-34, softball at 15-35. TMU BASEBALL STRUGGLES IN THE GMAC The Saints baseball team did manage a split on Senior Day with Trevecca Nazarene last weekend bringing their GMAC record to 7-25, good for an 11th-place finish in the GMAC, and their home mark to 8-13. It’s the road that’s been unkind to TMU with the Saints just 3-18 away from Thomas More Stadium. A single game Wednesday against Miami U.-Hamilton is left on their schedule. In the Trevecca Nazarene doubleheader, TMU lost by a football score – 21-7 in the first game after falling behind 21-1 after six innings before coming back to win the nightcap, 8-4.

Sam Bond, a freshman catcher from St. Leon, Indiana, led the way for the Saints with a .376 batting average, good for No. 9 in the GMAC. His bat made the difference in that last win over Trevecca Nazarene on Senior Day. Derek Arwood, Gavin Vogelsang and Gavin Pearson all contributed offensively to the win. SAME STORY FOR TMU SOFTBALL The record is almost the same for the Saints’ softballers, 15-35 overall, but with a better record in the GMAC at 9-17. The best thing that happened for TMU this spring is that their newly renovated softball complex came on-line and where they completed a 7-9 home season. With that 9-17 GMAC record, TMU finished 11th in the 14-team women’s division, 14 games behind No. 1 Trevecca Nazarene’s 23-3 conference mark. The TMU women split their final conference games with a pair of 5-3 decisions against Kentucky Wesleyan. Senior Cassidy King of Huber Heights, Ohio, pitched all seven innings for the win. Emily Allphin (New Richmond, Ohio), Ashtyn Elbe (Cincinnati Mercy/McAuley), Delaney Kemper and Anna Greenwell combined for the early offense to get TMU that final win. MEN’S, WOMEN’S GOLF FINISH AT GMAC TOURNEY IN OWENSBORO Shooting a 968 for three rounds in the GMAC season-ending conference tournament, TMU finished 13th, 99 strokes behind winner Kentucky Wesleyan in the three-day meet. Senior Adam Owens out of Bishop Brossart shot a 237 (81-80-76) to lead TMU, placing 48th in the field. Senior Dakota Finn’s (Boone County HS) 238 (77-77-84) was good for 50th, senior Brennan Eilers (St. Henry HS) shot 245 (79-86-80) for 59th while freshman Nate Resing (Covington Catholic) shot a 248 (79-83-86) to finish 61st.

On the women’s side, Findlay won its sixth straight GMAC title with the TMU women not making it into the final medal play competition. Grad student Rachel Hummel led the Saints while four first-year players – Elena Beck, Anna Schmidt, Megan Childs and Gracie Dargie along with sophomore Sydney Miller – rounded out the squad. WOMEN’S LACROSSE WINS GMAC TOURNEY OPENER With a 3-4 regular season GMAC record (4-13 overall), the Saints’ women were fifth in the eight-team conference race, won by 7-0 Walsh (0-5 overall). The TMU men, 2-6 in the GMAC and 2-10 overall, were No. 7 in the nine-team men’s division that an 8-0 Mercyhurst (10-5 overall) topped. But the good news here is that the TMU women pulled off their first-ever postseason win Saturday with a 15-5 GMAC tourney victory over Tiffin, sending the Saints to Thursday’s semifinal matchup at Walsh. Freshman Anna Wells (West Chester, Ohio) led TMU’s offense with six goals and an assist. First-year Alex Nunn (Loveland, Ohio), with three goals, four assists and five draw controls, also led the offense. In goal, first-year Kaylinn White (Louisville Male) had 11 saves. For the men, in a season-ending 13-12 overtime win against Tiffin, James Kendrick led the Saints’ offense with three goals and an assist. Sophomore goalie Trevor Almanza racked up 19 saves. MEN’S, WOMEN’S TENNIS STRUGGLE IN GMAC With a 1-7 record (2-10 overall), the TMU men finished eighth in the nine-team men’s division in the GMAC. The women also finished eighth (in a 10-team women’s division) with a 2-7 league mark (3-11) overall. Tiffin won both the men’s and women’s divisions with undefeated marks of 8-0 for the men and 9-0 for the women. GMAC OUTDOORS THIS WEEK FOR TMU TRACK & FIELD The GMAC outdoor championships Wednesday through Friday will finish the spring seasons for TMU’s men and women. For the men, top performers include Kaden Gardner (Ryle) in the high jump, Jude Theriot (Simon Kenton) in the 800, David Warner (Indianapolis Roncalli) in the mile, Austin Shaffer (Simon Kenton) in the 5K and Montrell Henderson in the 100. For the women, top performers include Nijah Robinson (Finneytown) in the 100, Marlee Ross (Brookville, Ohio) in the 800, Jayden Profitt (Dixie Heights) 100 meter hurdles, Miranda Csordas (Bishop Brossart) and Rylee Hood (Holy Cross) in the triple jump, McKenzie Bien (Harrison, Ohio) and Brooke Schoephoerster in the shot put, Savannah Faught (Georgetown, Ohio) and Sarah Bertsch (Newport Central Catholic) in the 5K and Makayla Abbott, Jessica Sanders and Grace Thamann in the 400-meter hurdles. Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.