WESTFIELD, Ind. – Missouri S&T took the first of its two games Sunday at the Midwest Region Crossover by knocking off perennial Division II power Grand Valley State, but was unable to complete the sweep of the weekend as Tiffin beat the Miners in the finale Sunday at Grant Park.
S&T took a
7-5 decision over the Lakers to begin its day, but lost
5-1 to Tiffin and finished the weekend with a record of 13-6 heading into the start of its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule later this week.
The Miners never trailed in the win over GVSU, but had to hold off the Lakers' rally efforts in the late innings.
After two scoreless innings, the Miners got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third.
Justus Nelson (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) reached on an error to start the inning, then following a sacrifice bunt,
Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman) singled to bring home Nelson. Later in the inning, Bodenstab scored on a passed ball to give S&T a 2-0 lead.
Grand Valley State cut the lead in half in the fourth on an RBI single by Anthony Villar, but the Miners scored two more in the bottom half of the inning. A hit by
Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney) was followed by an opposite field double by
Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville), then a balk by GVSU pitcher Zach Anderson scored Ulrich.
Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East) followed with a sacrifice fly to score Miller.
S&T scored again in the fifth when
Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union) doubled in Bodenstab to make it 5-1.
The Lakers closed the gap with a single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but the Miners got back on the board in the seventh on an RBI single by Bodenstab that scored Nelson. S&T then added another tally in the eighth when Johnson reached second on an error, moved to third on another error and scored on Zurweller's second sacrifice fly of the contest.
With S&T carrying a four-run lead into the ninth, the Lakers loaded the bases with nobody out.
Ethan Krenning (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South), who had just entered the game, struck out Keith Browning for the first out, but an error that followed scored two runs to cut the Miner lead to 7-5.
After Krenning got a ground ball out and then walked Connor Glick to again load the bases, Joel Schipper hit a ground ball that led to an interference call that ended the game.
The Miners outhit the Lakers 11-7 and got three hits apiece from Bodenstab and Miller in the victory.
S&T starter
Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) improved to 3-2 on the season by allowing five hits and striking out three in his six innings of work. Krenning, the last of three relievers used by the Miners, picked up his second save.
In the second contest against Tiffin, the Miners jumped on top in the first when Miller doubled with two outs and scored on a hit by Ulrich. However, the Dragons tied the score on a double play in the second and took the lead in the fourth with a two-out rally, consisting of a walk to Kyle Durham, a wild pitch and an RBI single by Ryan Thomas.
Tiffin added to its lead with a pair of unearned runs in the sixth, which began when Nick Hueneburg was hit by a pitch. Following a walk to Durham, a throwing error allowed Hueneburg to score. A sacrifice fly later in the inning allowed Durham the cross the plate and Tiffin added another unearned run in the seventh.
The Miners got their leadoff man on base in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings, but were unable to score in any of those frames.
S&T was held to six hits in the contest as the Dragons had an 8-6 advantage in hits.
Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville), who started for the Miners, got the loss on the mound.
Missouri S&T will get its GLVC schedule underway Friday when it opens a four-game series against Drury at the S&T Ballpark.
