SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Unlike the last time it faced off with Drury, Missouri S&T's baseball team didn't need any last at-bat heroics to come away with wins in both halves of the doubleheader with the Panthers, as the Miners completed a sweep of the season series Wednesday with 5-2 and 4-1 victories at Meador Park.

Wednesday's sweep keeps the Miners – now 19-14 overall and 12-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference – on the heels of GLVC West Division leader Quincy as those squads head into a four-game weekend series that begins Friday at the S&T Baseball Field.

The Miners, who swept the April 6 twinbill in Rolla with a pair of walk-off wins, were able to jump out on top in each game thanks to some ragged defensive play by the Panthers.

In the opener, Will McCord (Kingman, Ariz./Kingman HS) led off with a triple into the right field corner and as the relay throw was misplayed by the Panthers, McCord was able to come home with the first run of the game.

Drury tied the game in the bottom of the first, but S&T regained the lead in the second when Drew Davenport (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West) drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a ground out and scored on a two-out hit by Eric Van Dyke (Longmont, Colo./Silver Creek). However, the Panthers drew even in the third on R.J. Knese's run-scoring double with two outs off S&T starter John Auble (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South).

The Panthers' defensive issues Wednesday surfaced again in a decisive fifth inning rally by the Miners. Nick Burke (Good Hope, Ill./West Prairie HS) reached second after a wild throw on a ground ball to third, then Van Dyke put down a bunt and a high throw wasn't handled cleanly at first. As the ball got away, Burke raced in from third with the go-ahead run.

Van Dyke went to second on the play ended and moved over to third after a balk. With the infield drawn in, McCord ripped a single to center to extend the lead to 4-2, then scored himself later in the inning after going to third on a hit-and-run single by Josh Caffrey (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington HS) and crossing the plate on a double play.

That was all that Auble would need as he pitched through the sixth to earn his first collegiate win, scattering eight hits and getting a key double play ball off the bat of .380 hitter Emilio Villanueva to end the sixth. Harry Dunsford (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) also got a double play in the seventh to earn the save.

S&T was outhit 9-7 in the first game, as McCord had three of the Miners' seven hits.

The Miners took advantage of two Drury errors in the opening inning of the nightcap to score three times. After the first hitter was retired, S&T got hits from Caffrey and Lee Voth-Gaeddert (Hesston, Kan./Hesston HS); they would proceed to pull off a double steal to move ahead to second and third. Zach Carter (Perkins, Okla./Perkins-Tryon) followed by hitting a ball to third that was booted, with Caffrey scoring on the play.

Carter then broke for second as Panther starter Chris Barratt made a throw to first, but the throw was wild and allowed Voth-Gaeddert to cross the plate. A balk moved Carter to third and he scored moments later on Drew Davenport (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West)'s sacrifice fly.

S&T tacked on another run in the sixth when Davenport doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ben Pieper (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic)'s single through a drawn-in infield.

Drury had a golden opportunity to get back in the game in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases with nobody out thanks in part to a pair of S&T errors. After a passed ball scored the first run, Miner freshman reliever Drew Schrader (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan HS) got Courtney Spitz – the Panthers' leading hitter on the year – to pop out, Maury Wilmes to fly out and not be able to score the run in the process, and Caleb Cole to fly out to escape the jam.

Chris Bowe (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) started the game for S&T and threw two scoreless innings before being pulled in order to be available for the upcoming Quincy series. Schrader took over in the third and threw the next four, allowing only the one run in the sixth. Nolan Korn (Cedar Hill, Mo./Northwest) and Dunsford finished off the game with just one hit allowed over that span.

Bowe was credited with his second victory of the season and Dunsford picked up his second save of the day with a perfect ninth inning.

Pieper and Burke had two hits apiece for the Miners, who outhit the Panthers 8-5 in the nightcap.