Missouri S&T wrapped up its home baseball schedule on a bittersweet note Tuesday, winning the first game over McKendree 7-4 before settling for a 9-9 tie in a nightcap called after nine innings due to darkness.

 

It was a historic afternoon at the S&T Baseball Field, as one record was reached and another surpassed during the twinbill. Thomas McCormick (Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood) tied the Missouri S&T career record for hits with four on the afternoon, giving him 184 in his four seasons in a Miner uniform, while his previous mark for runs batted in during a season was broken by Eaf Redden (Gunter, Texas/Gunter) during the first game with his RBI double in the second inning.

 

However, the day had some frustration as well, as McKendree's Joe Dickman hit a pinch-hit three-run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to tie the second game, then the Miners had the winning run on third with one out in the bottom of the inning and left it stranded.

 

The Miners (17-30-1) got off to a fast start in the opener, sending 10 hitters to the plate in the first and scoring four times. S&T got its first run without a ball leaving the infield, as a walk and bunt singles by Louie Joseph (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) and McCormick preceded a bases loaded walk to Redden to put it on top.

 

Cody Bass (Chattanooga, Okla./Chattanooga) followed with an RBI single, then the Miners got a two-run double from Zac Carter (Perkins, Okla./Perkins-Tryon) later in the inning. Redden's double that set the RBI record in the second gave S&T a 5-0 lead.

 

After the Bearcats trimmed the lead to two with a three-run fourth, the Miners got single runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Redden and the fifth when Kyle Klabunde (Omaha, Neb./Roncalli Catholic) drove in a run.

 

Zac Helton (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette) pitched into the sixth inning to earn his first victory of the season, striking out three and scattering nine hits.

 

In the nightcap, McKendree got the jump on the Miners with three runs in the opening inning, then matched S&T's first inning run – which came as the result of a McCormick RBI single – with a run in the second to take a 4-1 lead.

 

But the Miners answered back with another big inning, as they sent 10 batters to the plate for the second time on the afternoon in the third. After a walk to Grant Johnson (LaSalle, Ill./St. Bede Academy) and a bunt single by Andrew Vance (Stilwell, Kan./Blue Valley ), an error on a bunt by Hunter Scheib (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) allowed Johnson to score. Moments later, McCormick delivered a two-run double – the hit that tied Clint Moss' school record of 184 hits – to tie the game.

 

S&T took its first lead in the nightcap on a two-run single by Carter later in the inning.

 

The Bearcats tied the score with two in the fourth, but the Miners regained the lead with a three-run outburst in the fifth. An high chopper off the bat of Klabunde brought the go-ahead run across the plate, then Vance added a two-run single with two outs to extend the lead to three.

 

The Miners were an out away from the victory in the seventh, but Tyler Muren's single kept the inning alive and Dickman followed with the pinch-hit homer to even the score at nine.

 

S&T got its first two runners on base in the bottom half of the inning, but after Klabunde moved the runners ahead with a sacrifice bunt, Bearcat reliever Eric Gentz recorded a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam.

 

The teams played through two scoreless extra innings before the game was called on account of darkness.

 

Vance had three of the Miners' 12 hits in game two, while McCormick had three RBI to go with his two hits. Will Morrison and Carter had two hits apiece for the Miners.

 

S&T will close its regular season schedule this weekend with a four-game series at Northern Kentucky – with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday in Highland Heights, Ky. – and will have one eye on the scoreboard as its playoff fate is being determined in series being played at Quincy and Drury over the weekend.

 

The Miners are currently in third place in the GLVC West -- holding onto the last playoff spot at the moment – but are hoping to hold off Quincy and Drury this weekend to make the conference tournament field.