ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's best offensive day of the 2015 season netted it a doubleheader sweep over Missouri-St. Louis Sunday afternoon, as the Miners swept the Great Lakes Valley Conference twinbill by scores of
10-5 and
14-1.
The Miners recorded 33 hits against the seven Triton pitchers they faced Sunday and recorded their highest run output in a GLVC game since 2011. S&T reached double figures in the run column in both games of a GLVC doubleheader for the second time since joining the conference in 2005.
The offensive onslaught got rolling in the fourth inning of game one, when the Miners were trailing 4-1 when they came to bat. S&T did score in the first on an RBI single by
Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe), but left the bases loaded in the second and stranded another runner in scoring position in the third.
Brandon Farley (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage) led off the fourth with a hit, followed by an opposite field single by
Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East) and a two-run double by
Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, Mo./Lutheran-St. Charles) that scored both runners. After UMSL starter Zach Sedlacek struck out the next two hitters – with a passed ball along the way that sent Swindle to third -- he walked
Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central) and threw a ball to Portwood before being replaced by Kyle Wilson on the mound.
Following a strike on the first pitch, Portwood hit a ground ball to short that was bobbled, allowing Swindle to score the tying run.
S&T exploded in the fifth, sending 11 hitters to the plate and scoring five times to take its first lead of the contest.
Adam Richter (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and the Miners would eventually load the bases with one out before
Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman) singled past the first baseman to drive in two to put S&T in front. After a wild pitch,
Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union) singled up the middle to score two more to make it 8-4.
Portwood drove in the Miners' final run of the inning with an opposite field hit to bring home Johnson and also drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth to plate S&T's final run of the opener.
Mack Preston (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission Northwest) pitched into the sixth to pick up the win for the Miners, scattering five hits and striking out two.
Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) got the final 10 outs to record the save, fanning four along the way.
Bodenstab had four hits in the first game as part of a day in which he had a total of six hits and six runs batted in. Farley also had three hits for S&T while Portwood drove in three runs.
In game two, the Miners picked things right back up after being set down in order in the first, as they batted around in each of the next two innings and scored 10 times in the process.
The second started with a hit by Portwood, who would advance to second on a wild pitch and come in to score on a double to the fence by
Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney). Following an error on a sacrifice bunt by Richter, Ulrich scored on a hit by Farley and Swindle blooped a single over the head of the third baseman to score Richter.
Bodenstab followed Swindle's hit with a double down the right field line to make it 5-0.
Portwood opened the third with a double and later scored on a ground out by Richter. Then with two outs, the Miners rattled off four straight hits, including a two-run triple by Bodenstab, to build their lead to 10.
S&T scored three more in the fourth, highlighted by Zurweller's two-run homer and once in the fifth on an RBI single by Karbowski.
Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) was the beneficiary of the offensive support in the nightcap as he carried a shutout into the sixth before the Tritons scored on a sacrifice fly. He allowed only five hits and struck out six to improve to 3-2 in his complete game performance.
S&T had 17 hits in the second game as eight of the Miners' nine starters all had two hits apiece. Bodenstab drove in four runs in the nightcap and Zurweller had three runs driven in.
The only previous time in GLVC play that the Miners had scored at least 10 runs in both games of a doubleheader was on March 19, 2010, when the Miners beat Maryville 13-5 and 10-2. The 14 runs was the most for S&T in a conference game since beating Rockhurst 20-6 on April 3, 2011.
The Miners (11-10, 6-4 GLVC) and Tritons (11-4, 6-4 GLVC) will complete their four-game series Monday with a noon doubleheader at the S&T Baseball Field.