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QUINCY, Ill. – Missouri S&T rebounded from an opening game loss Saturday to take a 2-0 victory in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Quincy University, riding a five-hit shutout by Zack Gronek (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) to gain a split and take three of four in the critical Great Lakes Valley Conference weekend series.  The Hawks took a high scoring affair in opener by a count of 11-9.

Gronek came out on the winning end of a pitcher's duel with Quincy's Clayton Hicks, who allowed only two unearned runs in the seventh inning that decided the contest.  The Miner senior lefthander, who improved his record to 7-1 on the year, struck out eight and retired 18 of the last 20 hitters he faced to beat the Hawks for the first time in his career.

After the teams played six scoreless innings, the Miners pushed two runs across in the seventh.  Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage) was hit by a pitch with one out, then after a sacrifice bunt by Jake Brower (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland), Kyle Rich (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) singled to the opposite field to put runners on the corners.  Clint Wobbe (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) walked to load the bases, then Will McCord (Kingman, Ariz./Kingman HS) hit a smash that QU first baseman Curran Collins couldn't handle, allowing Brown and Rich to score.

Gronek took care of matters from there, setting the Hawks down in order in the seventh and eighth innings and allowing only a one-out single to Aaron Priestes in the ninth.  He got Collins to fly out and struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Richardson after the hit to close out the win.

Hicks was good in defeat for the Hawks as well, allowing only five hits himself and striking out nine in a complete game effort.  Lee Voth-Gaeddert (Hesston, Kan./Hesston HS) and Rich had two hits apiece for the Miners.

The second game of the doubleheader was far quieter offensively than game one, which saw the two teams combine for 20 runs and 28 hits.  The Miners and Hawks scored in 10 of the 13 half-innings of the game, with the Miners nearly overcoming a four-run deficit in the top of the seventh.

Quincy scored twice in the opening inning off S&T starter John Auble (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) by stringing together four straight hits, then S&T got on the board in the second when it loaded the bases and got its run on a wild pitch.  However, the Hawks got a two-run double from Mitchell Broughton in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 4-1.

S&T cut the lead to 4-3 in the third when Voth-Gaeddert doubled and came into score on a hit by Andy Hall (Rolla, Mo./Rolla HS), who would cross the plate later in the inning on an error after a hit by Brower.

The Hawks knocked Auble – starting a game for the third time in eight days – out of the game during a three-run third inning, but the Miners drew closer again in the fourth when Voth-Gaeddert delivered a run-scoring double to score Wobbe and Hall followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home McCord.

After the Hawks scored a run in the fifth, the Miners drew to within 8-7 in the sixth on another RBI double by Voth-Gaeddert and a hit by Hall.  But the Hawks extended their lead with a three-run sixth, getting a two-run single from Gordon Gundaker and having a third run in the inning score when Drake Austin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Down by four, the Miners staged a rally after the first batter was retired and eventually got the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Brown was hit by a pitch with one out and Brower followed with a double to force the Hawks to bring closer Brian Thompson, whom the Miners beat in the seventh inning in Friday's second game.  Pinch-hitter Michael Boxell (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt North) reached on an error to score one run, then Wobbe hit a sacrifice fly to bring the Miners to within two.

S&T would load the bases after the sacrifice fly when McCord was hit by a pitch and Lockett got an infield hit, but Voth-Gaeddert – who had four of the Miners' 12 hits including three doubles – got under a pitch and flied out to left to end the rally.

Hall added two hits and three runs batted in for the Miners, while Brower and Wobbe also had two hits.

The Miners, ranked 13^th in the ABCA national rankings and 10^th in the writer's poll in NCAA Division II, improved to 22-7 overall and 12-4 in the GLVC West Division.  S&T fell into second place in the division race behind Drury, who swept a four-game set at Illinois Springfield over the weekend to move a game ahead of the Miners.

S&T will open a six-game homestand next Saturday when it hosts Rockhurst in a noon doubleheader at the S&T Baseball Field.