Patrick Reusse: Tommies pitcher is man for two seasons

The baseball players in the MIAC have spent this spring staring out the window, wondering if this could be the day when the snow melts, the sun shines, the field dries and they actually play a doubleheader.

"We've had one doubleheader so far, with Macalester," Lonnie Robinson said. "Beyond that, the games have been postponed and we've been working out indoors. Once you've been outside, then you have to go back indoors ... it's not the same throwing off those little plastic things as pushing off a real pitching rubber."

Robinson is a righthander for St. Thomas. He's a senior and was hoping to get a maximum number of starts in this final college go-round.

"When the weather does turn, we're going to be playing games every day, so that means fewer games for all our starters," he said.

The Tommies played six nonconference games in the Metrodome and 10 nonconference games in Fort Myers, Fla. They have played one MIAC doubleheader, a sweep of Macalester, and have postponed doubleheaders against Bethel, Concordia and St. John's.

Welcome to early-spring baseball in Minnesota. Good thing the Twins have that Dome, right?

Robinson was a hard-throwing pitcher at Osseo High School. His control was such that he was "Wild Thing" to his teammates.

"There were several Division II schools that wanted me to play baseball," Robinson said. "I didn't want to give up basketball, though. And St. Thomas was the one school that I was interested in that wanted me for both sports."

Robinson's father Randy works for an insurance company. His mother JoAnn works in special education in the Osseo school system. Academics were always a priority over athletics with this household.

"I didn't play basketball my first year at St. Thomas because I wanted to make sure I got off to a good start academically," Robinson said.

For that reason, this is Robinson's senior season as a pitcher for Dennis Denning's baseball team, but Robinson has a year left as a starting guard/forward and defensive stopper for Steve Fritz's basketball team.

"He's my Bob Gibson," Denning said. "He's a tough son of a gun. He's easygoing, a good leader and a great guy off the field, but once he steps on the mound he's a bulldog.

"I would probably have him playing in the outfield and swinging the bat, too, but he misses the first month of our season while he's playing basketball."

Robinson pitched sparingly for the Tommies as a freshman. "I was a thrower when I got here," he said. "The coaches have been tremendous, in getting me to become a pitcher."

Robinson made his first splash as a Tommies' sophomore when he set a school record with 15 strikeouts against Northwestern (Roseville). He was the team's ace and the MIAC pitcher of the year last season, going 4-0 in the conference.

To prepare for this final season, he would slip over to indoor baseball practice between classes and basketball for a couple of throwing sessions per week.

Lonnie was able to accompany the Tommies on their mid-March trip to Fort Myers. Right out of the chute, he shut out Salve Regina, a team from Rhode Island that had not been shut out in its previous 169 games

His most impressive outing this spring came on March 25, when he blanked Wisconsin-Oskhosh, like the Tommies a perennial Division III powerhouse. He allowed four hits, struck out six and didn't have a walk in his seven innings.

That was Oshkosh's fourth shutout loss in its past 241 games, although it might deserve an asterisk.

"The first pitch was at 6:45 in the morning at the Dome," Robinson said. "I don't know if the hitters were awake yet."

Robinson is 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA this season. He has 29 strikeouts and three walks in 22 innings.

He's also riding a shutout streak of ... how many innings?

"I don't know," he said. "It's been so long since we played I can't remember."

For the record: It's 19 innings.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com