ROLLA, Mo. – After using a rally in bottom of the ninth to take the first game of its Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Saturday with Quincy, Missouri S&T had the tables turned on it in the second contest as the Hawks overcame a two-run deficit in the seventh inning and picked up a split with an extra inning win.
The Miners took game one
5-4, scoring twice in the seventh off Quincy closer Teddy Rule and winning it on
Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central)'s RBI single with two outs. Quincy got a two-run single from Dominic Miles to extend the second game and then won
6-5 in the ninth when Ryan Snyder drove in the go-ahead run.
S&T trailed for much of the opener, as Quincy scored three times in the second off starter
Mack Preston (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission Northwest) and added a run in the fifth on Tommy Hager's run-scoring single. The Miners had scored in the fourth when
Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe) hit a ball up the middle that was knocked down by the shortstop, but he couldn't make a play and allowed
Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union) to score.
In the sixth, the Miners got to within 4-2 when Portwood doubled home
Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman), then got another run closer in the seventh on back-to-back hits by
Reed Brown (Rogers, Ark./Heritage) and
Brandon Farley (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage), a sacrifice bunt and an error that scored Brown.
Devin Muir (Roseburg, Ore./Days Creek) threw two perfect innings of relief to keep it as a one-run game for the Miners in the ninth when Rule – who entered the game with an earned run average of under one – took over on the mound.
Rule walked Farley on four pitches to start the inning, then following a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout, Bodenstab singled up the middle to bring home pinch-runner
Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, Mo./Lutheran-St. Charles) with the tying run. Bodenstab then stole second and Johnson drew a walk on a full count pitch before Karbowski hit the first pitch up the middle to bring in the winning run.
The Miners outhit the Hawks 10-6 in the opener, with Portwood getting two of the hits and driving in runs on both. Bodenstab, Johnson and Farley also had two hits each for S&T, while Muir got the win in the relief with his two perfect innings of work that included a strikeout.
S&T took the initial lead in the nightcap when Farley singled home Portwood in the second, but the Hawks tied the game in the third on an RBI hit by David Jacob and took the lead with two in the fourth, as J.P. Meyer doubled home a run and scored later in the inning on a hit by Chris Ward.
The Miners, who had only three hits through the first four innings against Quincy starter Graham Spraker, broke loose with five straight hits to begin the fifth and took the lead in the process.
Adam Richter (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei)'s double to deep center got the inning started, then Swindle doubled into the gap in left center to cut the lead in half. Bodenstab reached on a bunt single to put runners at the corners before Johnson plugged the gap in left center to score Swindle with the tying run.
Karbowski then put the Miners back in front with a two-run single.
S&T starter
Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) set the Hawks down in order in the sixth before turning matters over to Brown for the seventh. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Kory Wisdom drew a walk before Jacob hit a double play ball to short, but after getting the out at second, the ball was dropped on the exchange to allow Jacob to reach base and keep the game going.
Snyder followed with a bloop double that fell just out of the reach of Johnson in right to put both runners in scoring position, then Miles singled up the middle to bring both runners home to tie the score.
Quincy scored the go-ahead run in the ninth off reliever
Josh Havig (Dallas, Ore./Dallas) as Ward hit a leadoff single, was forced at second on a ground ball, then Jacob drew a walk with two outs before Snyder drove in the run.
The Miners got two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but Jake Wehde got a ground ball to end the game.
Quincy had 13 hits to the Miners' nine in the nightcap; Bodenstab and Swindle had two hits each for S&T.
The Miners and Hawks, both 19-12 overall, will wrap up their weekend series Sunday with a noon doubleheader at the S&T Baseball Field. S&T is now 14-6 in GLVC play, while Quincy is 13-7 in the conference after Saturday's action.