*Hornets stung in College World Series, on brink of elimination

By Jason Galleske - sports@nvdaily.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - Shenandoah's second round game in the Division 3 College World Series looked similar to the previous night's game.

The problem for the Hornets was being on the wrong end Saturday in a 16-5 loss to the University of St. Thomas at Time Warner Cable Stadium.

"I was very proud of the way they competed," Shenandoah coach Kevin Anderson said. "The way they conducted themselves [and now] that the game is over, we'll sleep in the morning and be ready to play tomorrow."

The Hornets now will face Carthage College on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in an elimination game.

"They're a good baseball team," Anderson said of Carthage. "We watched them very close in case of worst case scenario, we were playing them. Boy they played really, really well today. We'll have to be at our best to beat them."

The Tommies chased out Hornets starting pitcher Josh Simons quickly. Simons threw 64 pitches, only 35 for strikes, in two innings. He walked four batters and threw 30 pitches in a first inning which saw the Tommies score just one run.

"We dodged a grenade," Anderson said. "Josh walked [four] in the first two innings and he's been great all year and I feel bad for him."

Shenandoah wasn't as fortunate in the second and third innings, which saw the Tommies score five runs. In the top of the third Simons walked two of the three batters he faced both on four straight pitches.

Simons, the No. 2 starter, had been big for the Hornets all year as he sported a 5-0 record and a 3.79 ERA.

"[His] velocity was tremendous," Anderson said. "He was throwing in the low 90s, unfortunately he couldn't get anything below the belt. His curveball was elevated also and he had trouble in the zone and he's been money all year and by far that was his worst start in his career. Unfortunately it came in the College World Series."

The 16 runs that St. Thomas scored were the most an opponent has put up on the Hornets since North Carolina Wesleyan scored the same amount on April 19 in the opening round of the USA South Conference tournament. That was also the last time SU had lost a game.

St. Thomas scored at least one run in each of the first six innings - including three each in the second and fourth innings and a back-breaking six in the sixth. In the sixth, Roy Larson smacked a towering home run to left field. In that inning, the Tommies had six consecutive hits.

"The three-run homer, that was hard to overcome," Anderson said. "You could see the air just went out of the balloon right there and I'm still so proud of our guys and they'll be ready to play tomorrow."

Shenandoah did have some positives as every starter at least reached base and all but Jason Eberz garnered a hit. It was the 32nd time this season that the Hornets had at least 10 hits, but three crucial double plays deterred their chances at trimming the gap.

"All of the double plays, there were multiple guys on base," Anderson said. "We had numerous guys in scoring position. One time we had second and third with no outs and only got one run out of it. The credit goes to St. Thomas."

Kevin Brashears and Scot Van Dusseldorp garnered multiple hits for the Hornets. Brashers had a potential scary situation with a ball that bounced off his head off the bat of Louie Salmen in deep left center in the fourth inning. Brashers was down on the ground for a short while, but