ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's baseball team earned a key sweep of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Wednesday, taking a pair of decisions in its final at-bat over Drury at the S&T Baseball Field. The Miners took the first game 4-3 in 10 innings, then scored in the last of the seventh to win 5-4 in the nightcap.

The sweep puts the Miners at 15-12 overall and 9-5 in the GLVC, just one game in back of division leader Quincy. They also gave themselves more space between themselves and the Panthers as well as Rockhurst, the teams that were picked to finish atop the GLVC West. S&T now leads Rockhurst by 1 ½ games and hold a four-game advantage over the Panthers.

S&T jumped out in front in the opening inning of game one, as Lee Voth-Gaeddert (Hesston, Kan./Hesston HS) drove in Will McCord (Kingman, Ariz./Kingman HS), who had walked to open the frame, with an opposite field single off Drury starter Kevin Sweeney.

The Miners were able to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard through the first six innings, getting out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the fifth. S&T added to its lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Grant Brasher (Bridgeton, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit) that scored Drew Davenport (McHenry, Ill./McHenry West).

Drury was able to take advantage of a Miner error in the seventh to tie the game. With runners on first and third and one out, a wild pickoff throw to first brought home the first run, then the Panthers tied it on Emilio Villanueva's sacrifice fly. Drury grabbed the lead an inning later when Maury Wilmes tripled down the left field line to score Deven Hulse.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, the Miners staged a rally with one out to tie the contest. Clint Wobbe (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) drew a one-out walk from Evan Jones and moved to second on a wild pitch, then McCord singled off the outstretched glove of first baseman Matt Stacks to bring home Wobbe with the tying run.

Harry Dunsford (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) pitched around a two-out single in the 10^th, then the Miners won the game in the bottom half of the inning. Voth-Gaeddert walked to open the inning and Davenport, in an effort to sacrifice him over, reached on an error that sent Voth-Gaeddert to third. The Panthers loaded the bases by intentionally walking Grant Brasher (Bridgeton, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit) with one out before Nick Burke (Good Hope, Ill./West Prairie HS) hit a potential double play ball that would have ended the inning.

Drury got the out at second, but the throw to first in an effort to complete the double play never made it to first, allowing Voth-Gaeddert to cross the plate with the winning run.

Dunsford picked up the win with two innings of scoreless relief. The Miners got two hits apiece from Josh Caffrey (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington HS) and Ben Pieper (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) despite being outhit 9-8.

In the second game, both teams scored in the opening inning with errors on both sides playing a key role. A wild throw on an infield single allowed the Panthers to get a runner into scoring position with two outs and Caleb Cole scored on Courtney Spitz's hit that followed. However, Drury returned the favor in the bottom of the inning when a throwing error allowed Davenport – who singled with two outs and went to second on a balk – to score the tying run.

Drury regained the lead in the third on an RBI double by Cole, but the Miners got two in the bottom half with two outs when Davenport walked, Voth-Gaeddert was hit by a pitch and Caffrey drilled a double to left center to score both and give S&T a 3-2 lead.

The Panthers knotted the score in the fifth on an RBI hit by Cole, but an error by Cole in the sixth allowed S&T to regain the lead. Voth-Gaeddert and Caffrey got back-to-back hits to start the inning, then after both runners were moved up on a sacrifice, Caffrey got caught between the second and third. As he was trying to get back to second and the throw went there, Voth-Gaeddert broke for home and Cole's throw sailed over the catcher's head.

S&T couldn't get another run across in the sixth, then the Panthers tied the game in the seventh. With one out, Nick Thimesch reached on an error and Villanueva singled. Following a pitching change, a wild pitch moved the runners up and Cole hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at four.

Evans, who took the loss in game one, took over on the mound for the Panthers in the seventh and had all kinds of difficulty in finding the plate. McCord drew a four-pitch walk to begin the inning, then Wobbe was hit by a pitch. Davenport drew another walk to load the bases and Voth-Gaeddert hit a fly ball down the right field line that was caught in foul territory, but deep enough to score McCord with the game-winning run.

Dunsford again got the win in relief, marking the second time this season that a Miner hurler was the winner in both games of a doubleheader. Caffrey had two hits and drove in two for the Miners, who had just four hits in the second game.

The Miners will take a break from GLVC play this weekend as they will play a three-game series at Oakland City, beginning with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.