ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's baseball team will seek to close its eight-game Great Lakes Valley Conference homestand in the same manner that it started it, as it plays host to Truman State in a weekend series at the S&T Baseball Field.

The Miners, who swept the four-game set from Bellarmine last weekend, will face the Bulldogs in noon doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday.  Missouri S&T comes into the weekend at 5-3 in the GLVC and 10-11 overall, while Truman, a first-year member of the league but a long-time rival of S&T from its days in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, is also 5-3 in league play and 9-10 overall.

S&T used two dramatic late inning rallies to get wins during the Bellarmine series, coming back from a two-run deficit in the eighth inning of game one for an eventual 8-7 victory, then scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh in the opening game of Sunday's twinbill to win 10-9.  Second baseman Michael Lockett (O'Fallon, Mo./Timberland) and third baseman Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage) both hit over .500 during last weekend's series, with Lockett reaching base by hit or walk 11 times.

Lockett is hitting .352 on the season coming into the weekend series, while right fielder Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central) is batting .329.  Brown leads S&T with 12 runs batted in.

Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield), who got one of the wins on the mound last weekend, is 2-1 with a 4.30 earned run average to pace the starting rotation.   Kyle Robertson (Granite City, Ill./Granite City), fresh off an outing with 7 2/3 scoreless innings, has two wins along with fellow starter John Auble (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) and reliever Micah Dohlen (Kent, Wash./Kent Lake), while Brown and Jacob Hinton (Westmoreland, Tenn./Westmoreland) have combined for six saves out of the bullpen.

Truman State split a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday with Southwest Baptist and also split a four-game series last weekend at Indianapolis.  First baseman Paul Trenhaile is hitting .469 on the year with 19 runs batted in, while right fielder Jarod Hahn has belted three homers and driven in 19 to go with a .414 batting mark.  The Bulldogs' .287 team average was third in the GLVC heading into play this week.

On the hill, Tim Lee and Paul Roberts – who picked up the wins for the Bulldogs in the series at UIndy – are a combined 3-0 in eight starts.  Lee owns a 3.00 earned run average, while Roberts is 2-0 with a  3.29 ERA and a team-high 17 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings.  As a team, Truman has a 6.36 earned run average though its first 19 games.

Live Stats (good for game in progress)