Missouri S&T got a strong pitching performance Friday from junior Andrew Page (Stoney Creek, Ont./Cardinal Newman) and RBI doubles off the bats of Brandon Cogan (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower) and Will Morrison (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) to get back into the win column, as the Miners knocked off Indianapolis 4-3 in the opener of a four-game series at the S&T Baseball Field.

 

Page threw a 117-pitch complete game in the nine-inning contest, striking out nine and allowing only seven hits. He was able to get a strikeout with the tying run on third in the seventh inning to escape that inning, then allowed only a two-out single to pinch-hitter Scott Mourey in the eighth as he retired seven of the last eight hitters he faced.

 

S&T got on the scoreboard first in the second inning. Drew Davenport (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) led off with a hit and Zach Carter (Perkins, Okla./Perkins-Tryon) singled with one out. After Tim Kerovac's sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, Cogan hit a ball that sailed over the head of rightfielder Casey Potter to give the Miners a 2-0 lead.

 

The Greyhounds answered right back with a pair of runs in the third on Chase Kittinger's two run single. From there, Page and UIndy starter Jordan Tiegs matched zeroes until Tiegs ran into trouble in the sixth.

 

Thomas McCormick (Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood) drew a leadoff walk, then Eaf Redden (Gunter, Texas/Gunter) singled up the middle. Tiegs then walked Cody Bass (Chattanooga, Okla./Chattanooga), who had been hinting at bunting the runners over, to load the bases with nobody out.

 

After Tiegs struck out Davenport, Morrison laced a double into the right field corner to put S&T back in front as McCormick and Redden came in to score.

 

Indianapolis got an unearned run with two outs in the seventh, then got the tying run over to third before Page fanned Adam Akin to strand that runner at third and keep the Miners in the lead.

 

Page, who retired 11 straight hitters at one point in the game, struck out a season-high nine to get his first win of the season. Offensively, the Miners finished with six hits which came from six different hitters.

 

The Miners (6-11) and Greyhounds (10-7) will meet in a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon at the S&T Baseball Field, then close the weekend set with a single game Sunday afternoon.