ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T opened its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule Friday by taking both ends of a doubleheader from defending league champion Drury, whipping the Panthers 9-3 in the opener before rallying for a 2-1 win to complete the sweep.

In the first game, S&T got on the board in the second inning when Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney) led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on an opposite field hit by Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East).  Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville), who walked prior to Zurweller's hit, would score moments later on another opposite field single off the bat of Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe).

The Miners added onto their advantage in the fourth, taking advantage of an error to begin the inning that allowed Ulrich to reach.  The error was followed by a sacrifice bunt and an RBI double by Zurweller to make it 3-0, then Portwood followed by doubling in Zurweller.

Drury scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings – both unearned runs – but S&T scored three in the bottom half of the sixth, the first two scoring on Matt Reschke (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South)'s two-run single and a third later in the frame on an RBI single by Adam Richter (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei).

The Miners also scored twice in the eighth as Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) singled and moved around the bases on a stolen base, a throwing error and a wild pitch, then Reschke drove in his third run with a hit that scored Zurweller.

S&T starter Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) pitched into the sixth innings, allowing just four hits and no earned runs in that span to pick up his fourth win of the year.  Luke Marcheschi (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) retired all four hitters he faced before the Panthers got a run off Trent Green (Perryville, Mo./Perryville) in the eighth.  Bryan Nolan (Ballwin, Mo./St. Louis University HS) threw a perfect ninth to close out the contest.

The Miners outhit Drury 12-6 in a contest that saw each team commit four errors.  Zurweller had three hits and drove in a pair for S&T, while Reschke drove in three with his two hits.  Miller and Portwood also had two hits each for the Miners.

Following two scoreless innings in the nightcap, Drury took the lead in the third when Ryan Colombo scored on a double play off the bat of Conner Wilson, with Colombo crossing the plate before the second out was recorded at second base.

S&T also avoided allowing a run in the second when Miller cut down Grant Thimesch at third for the final out of the inning before Dylan Bradshaw reached the plate.

After failing to score in the first three innings despite having runners on base in each of them, the Miners got on the board in the fourth when Ulrich drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on a hit and a sacrifice bunt and came in to score on a wild pitch.

Keith Coulson (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) got some help from his defense to escape a jam in the sixth, as Wilson was cut down at the plate by Portwood trying to score the go-ahead run.  Coulson then got Dylan Bradshaw to bounce into a fielder's choice to get out of the inning with the game tied.

In the bottom of the sixth, Portwood put the Miners into the lead by banging a single through a drawn-in infield to bring home Ulrich – who led off by drawing a walk from reliever Ryan Wedermyer and ended up at third following a sacrifice and a passed ball.

Coulson finished off the Panthers (8-15, 0-2 GLVC) in the seventh, surrendering a pair of two-out hits before fanning John Goodrich on three pitches to end the game.

The Miners (15-6, 2-0 GLVC) were held to five hits in the nightcap – two by Portwood – as the Panthers had eight against Coulson, but the Miner righty pitched around those hits plus three walks as he induced a pair of double play balls along with the ground ball to get the out at the plate in the sixth.

The Miners and Panthers will play a doubleheader Saturday at noon to wrap up the four-game weekend series.