ROLLA, Mo. – Strong hitting has propelled the Missouri S&T baseball team to the top end of the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division standings in the early going, but on Wednesday it was the pitching that took center stage as the Miners swept Maryville at the S&T Baseball Field by scores of 7-0 and 7-3.

 

Zac Helton (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette) fired a three-hit shutout in the opener for the Miners, before three pitchers took care of matters in game two as S&T won for the eighth time in its last 10 games. The Miners also improved to 7-1 in the GLVC heading into a weekend series against division leader Drury in Springfield, Mo.

 

Helton allowed only a one-out single in the second, a one-out single in the sixth and a one-out double in the seventh to pick up his second victory of the season. He got all the offensive support he needed in the second inning when the Miners put three runs on the scoreboard.

 

After Sam Adams (Forsyth, Mo./Forsyth) led off with a hit and was sacrificed to second, Drew Davenport (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) belted a double into the gap to put S&T in front.  With two outs, Hunter Scheib (Lawrence, Kan./Free State) drilled a single to center to score Davenport.

 

Scheib followed by stealing second and came in to score on a hit by Will Morrison (Rolla, Mo./Rolla).

 

The Miners added three unearned runs in the third, the first scoring on an interference call when Matt Kempin (Wichita, Kan./Trinity Academy) was caught in a rundown between third and home. Brandon Cogan (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower) drove in the other two runs with a hit later in the inning and S&T tacked on another run in the sixth.

 

S&T outhit the Saints 7-3 in the opener with Morrison getting two of the Miner hits.

 

The Miners jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the opening inning of the nightcap. The first run scored on a double steal as Scheib got caught up in a rundown long enough to allow Cogan to steal home. A throwing error on the play sent Scheib over to third and he scored moments later on an infield out.

 

S&T got its third run of the inning when Kempin doubled with two outs and scored on a hit by Zach Carter (Perkins, Okla./Perkins-Tryon).

 

Maryville cut into the lead on Dustin Esker's two-run single in the fourth, but the Miners were able to extend the lead in the sixth when Carter singled and later scored on a passed ball. 

 

S&T broke the game open in the seventh with three straight RBI hits with two outs. Scheib started the inning by drawing a walk and was on third after the next two hitters were retired. Kempin drove him in with a single to center, then Carter tripled over the head of the centerfielder to make it 6-2.  Davenport drove in Carter with an infield single.

 

The Miners finished with 12 hits, with Carter getting three and Morrison and Kempin two apiece.

 

David Birkby (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway West) pitched the first five innings to get the win for S&T, who also got three innings of relief work from Alex Dunn (Independence, Mo./Truman) and one from Caleb Lambert (Romulus, Mich./Inter-City Baptist) to close out the win.

 

The four Miner pitchers who saw action Wednesday did not allow a walk over the course of the two games.

 

Missouri S&T improved to 10-14 overall with Wednesday's doubleheader sweep.