ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T faces a busy week on the diamond with five games scheduled – against five different opponents – prior to the start of Great Lakes Valley Conference play next weekend.
The Miners will open their week by taking on Pittsburg State in a single game at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Pittsburg, Kan., then head to Westfield, Ind., for the Midwest Regional crossover where they will play two games Saturday and two more on Sunday.
S&T will face Cedarville from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern time) in its first game in Westfield and will follow that with a matchup against GLVC East Division foe Saint Joseph's. On Sunday, the Miners will take on a pair of teams from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as they play Grand Valley State at 1:30 p.m. (Eastern time) and complete their weekend immediately afterwards by taking on Tiffin.
The Miners took two of the three games played last weekend at Illinois Springfield – game four was cancelled Sunday on account of weather – and will take a 10-5 record into this week's action. S&T was held in check by and large by the Prairie Stars, but put together a couple of multiple-run innings during the series to back some solid pitching and come away with the two wins.
Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney), who drove in seven runs in the series, has a team-high 20 that ranks third in the GLVC headlng into play this week. Ulrich leads S&T with a .400 batting average and also heads the conference with eight doubles.
The Miners also have the GLVC leader in triples in
Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman) with three and in stolen bases as
Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) has swiped nine thus far on the year. Miller is hitting .388 on the season, while
Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union) checks in with a mark of .391.
On the mound, the Miners have a 4.04 earned run average with
Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) leading the way with a mark of 3.33. Bedsworth, who has struck out 27 in 24 1/3 innings, has two wins on the year as does
Keith Coulson (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) – who got the win in the Miners' 4-1 victory over UIS Friday – while
Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) picked up his third win in the series finale in Springfield.
Pittsburg State comes into Wednesday's game looking to snap a nine-game losing streak; the Gorillas are 5-12 overall on the year. Andrew Vogelbaugh leads PSU on the offensive side with a .415 batting average, seven home runs and 24 runs batted in, while Brett Macary and Jacob Boylan are each hitting .358.
The Gorillas have hit 14 home runs in their first 17 contests, but their pitching staff has allowed 28 long balls and owns a 9.68 earned run average.
As for the Miners' four weekend opponents, Cedarville is currently 3-5 and will play three times before facing S&T in its first game in Westfield. The Yellowjackets are hitting .297 as a team, led by Drew Johnson's .424 mark, while recording a 5.09 earned run average on the mound.
Saint Joseph's is 7-8 and is paced by Joshua Handzik's .429 batting average; he has homered three times with 13 runs batted in, while Garrett O'Neill has six home runs and 21 RBI. Zachary Aring has won two of his four starts with an ERA of 1.25 and 18 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings.
Grand Valley State is currently 7-6-1 and will face Lewis and Indianapolis on Friday before taking on the Miners in Saturday's first game. The Lakers, who are hitting .319 as a team and averaging 7.4 runs per game, are led by Anthony Villar's .457 average and a .389 mark by Joel Schipper, while Keith Browning has knocked in 15 runs. Josh Griffith has a 1-1 record and 2.30 earned run average.
Tiffin, the final team the Miners will face this weekend, is currently 5-8. The Dragons have a 5.96 team earned run average – Mike Cooperider has a 1.47 ERA in 18 1/3 innings – while Nick Hueneburg leads them in hitting with a 3.91 average.
Missouri S&T opens its GLVC schedule March 25 against Drury.
