By: John Kean, Sports Information Director
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Missouri S&T ended a pair of losing streaks Sunday afternoon as it picked up a split of its doubleheader against 15
th-ranked Southern Indiana. The Miners won the first game
8-6 by scoring twice in the top of the seventh, while USI took the nightcap
12-6.
The Miners' win over the Eagles ended a 10-game losing streak overall and was their first win over Southern Indiana since joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference in the 2005-06 school year.
S&T – which was delayed in arriving at the field due to a bus problem – didn't let that affect its start as it put four runs on the board in the opening inning. After the first hitter was retired, the Miners rattled off five straight hits to take a 4-0 lead.
Back-to-back singles by
Drew Davenport (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) and
Will Morrison (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) was followed by a run-scoring double by
Zach Carter (Perkins, Okla./Perkins-Tryon).
Matt Kempin (Wichita, Kan./Trinity Academy) reached on an infield single to bring home another run, then the Miners pulled off a double steal for their third run off the inning as Carter scored.
S&T's fourth run of the first came on an RBI single by
Sam Adams (Forsyth, Mo./Forsyth).
USI scored a run in the first, which the Miners answered in the third as Adams singled with two outs to score Carter. However, the Eagles tallied four runs in the bottom half of the third to knot the score at five.
The Eagles took the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Ehmke, but S&T drew even in the fifth when Adams delivered his third RBI single of the day to score Morrison.
In the seventh, Davenport drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Morrison. After Carter was walked, Kempin drilled a single up the middle to put the Miners in front. Adams drove in his fourth run of the contest later in the inning with a sacrifice fly.
The Eagles got the tying runs on base in the bottom of the seventh, but
Alex Dunn (Independence, Mo./Truman), who threw the final 4 2/3 innings, got the final out to preserve the win.
S&T was outhit 14-11 in the game, as Adams had three hits and four RBI to lead the way.
The Miners were able to answer a four-run USI first inning in the nightcap by scoring four in a wild top of the second. Kempin led off with an infield single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder's choice to start the uprising.
S&T scored its second run on a successful squeeze bunt by
Louie Joseph (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic), then
Brandon Cogan (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower) drove in a run with a single and the fourth run of the inning came home on an error.
However, USI regained the lead by scoring in the bottom of the second and tallied four more in the third and three in the fourth to take a 12-4 lead after four innings.
The Miners got their other two runs in the fifth when
Caleb Smith (Calgary, Alta./Central Memorial ) singled home one run and a subsequent error on the play allowed a second runner to cross the plate.
Cogan had four of the Miners' 10 hits in the nightcap.
Caleb Lambert (Romulus, Mich./Inter-City Baptist) was charged with the loss on the hill.
The Miners (13-29, 10-14 GLVC) will play a doubleheader Wednesday at Truman State prior to wrapping up their home schedule with a critical series against Quincy next weekend.
