LIBERTY, Mo. – For the second day in succession, Missouri S&T played to a split with William Jewell in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, using a big sixth inning to win game one 8-4 before dropping the series finale 10-7 as the Cardinals belted four home runs in the nightcap.

The teams were involved in a see-saw battle in the opener until the Miners broke the game open in the sixth inning with a five-run outburst.  Before that happened, the Cardinals took the initial lead with a run in the second off S&T starter Keith Coulson (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) before the Miners tied it in the fourth on Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney)'s RBI double.

William Jewell regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on Christie's home run – the first of five he would hit in Sunday's twinbill -- only to see S&T take the lead back in the fifth.  With one out, Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman) drew a walk, stole second and scored on Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville)'s triple.  Moments later, Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe) singled into right to put the Miners in the lead.

After the first out was recorded in the sixth, the Miners' big inning started when Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, Mo./Lutheran-St. Charles) was hit by a pitch.  Following a hit by Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East), Adam Richter (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) singled to score Swindle to extend the S&T lead to 4-2.  Bodenstab followed by droving home Zurweller, then Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central) executed a squeeze bunt that scored Richter with the third run of the inning.

Miller followed that with his second triple of the game to drive home Bodenstab, then scored himself when Portwood reached on an error.

Coulson pitched into the seventh, then turned it over to Luke Marcheschi (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) to get the final three outs after running into trouble at the start of the inning.  The win improved Coulson's mark to 7-2 on the season, marking the first time in S&T history that the Miners have three pitchers with at least seven wins in the same season.

Zurweller and Richter had three hits apiece for the Miners, who outhit Jewell 14-8 in the opener.

The Miners took the early lead in the nightcap with two in the first on RBI hits by Portwood and Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union), then answered Christie's second inning home run with a tally in the third when Justus Nelson (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) doubled and scored on a hit by Miller.

Jewell tied the game in the fourth, but the Miners went back in the lead in the fifth as Miller reached on an error with two outs and scored when Portwood reached on an infield hit and the throw went past the first baseman, allowing Miller to come all the way around to score.

However, the Cardinals had a big sixth inning against the Miner bullpen, taking the lead on a two-run double by Dane Erbst and getting another home run from Christie to cap a five-run frame.

Trailing 8-4 after the sixth inning ended, the Miners got three of the runs back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Miller and a two-run single by Johnson.  However, the Cardinals got a solo home run from Drew Standifer in the seventh and from Christie in the eighth – his third of the game and sixth in the four-game weekend series.

The Cardinals (24-18, 9-11 GLVC) had a 13-11 advantage in hits in the finale; Portwood and Johnson had three apiece for S&T, who ended the weekend at 27-14 overall and 12-8 in the GLVC.  The Miners currently sit two games in back of Quincy and Rockhurst in the GLVC West Division.

The Miners return to action Saturday when they face Missouri-St. Louis in a noon doubleheader in St. Louis.