Thomas Homers Twice to Carry Utah Valley State Past North Dakota State, 8-7

Wednesday, May 23

Orem, Utah

8 p.m.

North Dakota State

14-30

Utah Valley State

23-29

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
North Dakota State	3	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	7	13	2
Utah Valley State	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	3	8	9	1

Thomas Homers Twice to Carry Utah Valley State Past North Dakota State, 8-7

5/24/2007 5:14:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

OREM, Utah--Catcher Derrick Thomas hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to lift Utah Valley State to an 8-7 victory over North Dakota State late Wednesday night at the Division I independent baseball tournament.

It was the second home run of the game for Thomas, the Wolverines' leading hitter with a .410 average and 14 home runs this season. His round-tripper in the fifth inning plated three unearned runs to cap a five-run frame.

Thomas made a winner out of relief pitcher Ryan Chadwick (3-3), who got the final out of the ninth inning and stranded two base runners.

UVSC starter Marcus Moore threw 174 pitches in the no-decision. Moore allowed seven runs on 13 hits, walked five and struck out nine.

North Dakota State pitcher Jake Laber (6-6) went the distance and threw 130 pitches in the loss. Laber allowed nine hits, walked three and struck out six.

The Bison (14-30) jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning. Luke Otto walked and scored one out later on a Matt Mossey triple, and Ryan Langlais followed with his first of two home runs.

NDSU went up 4-0 in the fourth when Greg Plecki delievered a two-out RBI single to score Billy Gazich.

Utah Valley State led 5-4 before Langlais belted a three-run homer in the seventh to put the Bison back in front. It was the eighth homer of the year for Langlais, the best single-season total for an NDSU player in the school's Division I era.

The Wolverines threatened to go ahead in the eighth. Back-to-back singles, a sacrifice bunt and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with one out before Laber got a ground-ball double play out of the No. 9 hitter to end the inning.

Moore struck out the first two batters of the ninth, but Mossey and Langlais reached with consecutive base hits to chase him from the game.

The bottom of the ninth started with an infield error, wild pitch and walk before Thomas sent a 2-2 pitch out of the park to win the game.

Langlais finished 3-for-4 and Mossey was 3-for-5 for the Bison. Thomas also finished 3-for-5.

North Dakota State continues tournament play Thursday against New York Tech (23-26). Game time is set for 4 p.m. MT at Wolverine Stadium in Orem.

In other action Wednesday, South Dakota State scored 10 runs in the first inning to roll past New York Tech 19-4, and New Jersey Tech outslugged Northern Colorado 13-12 in a game that saw 11 home runs hit.