ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri S&T got the jump on the weekend series with Missouri-St. Louis by taking a 5-3 decision in the first game of Friday's doubleheader, but couldn't overtake the Tritons in the nightcap as UMSL gained a split with a 3-2 victory.

The Miners fell behind right out the gate in game one, as Tom DeCero followed a Jose Ortiz infield single that began the first with a two-run homer to put the Tritons in the lead.  UMSL would add a third run before the inning ended on an RBI single by Tanner Hudson.

S&T got on the board in the second after loading the bases with three consecutive singles, before Tyler Johnson (Union, Mo./Union) hit into a double play to score Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney).

Two innings later, the Miners drew even as they took advantage of an error along the way.  Following a leadoff walk and a fielder's choice, Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe) stole second and that was followed by consecutive walks to Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East) and Johnson.  Adam Richter (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) then reached on an error to score a run and a second run came across moments later on a ground ball off the bat of Trevor Karbowski (Standish, Mich./Sterling Central).

In the fifth, the Miners took their first lead of the contest against UMSL starter Kurt McGuire – who entered the game with a 7-1 record and 2.34 earned run average – when Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) singled, stole second and came in to score on an opposite field double by Ulrich – who also drove in another run in the seventh when he brought home Miller who had doubled with two outs.

After allowing the three runs in the first, S&T starter Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) settled in and held the Tritons off the scoreboard for the next seven innings before turning it over to Ethan Krenning (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) to start the ninth.  UMSL got the tying runs on base, but Krenning got DeCero on a comebacker for the final out.

Borek scattered nine hits in his eight innings of work and struck out two to improve to 8-3 on the season.

The Miners were outhit by the Tritons 10-9; Ulrich had three of S&T's hits while Miller and Zurweller had two apiece.

S&T scored first in game two, posting a pair of runs in the opening frame as Johnson reached on an infield hit with one out and scored on Miller's triple.  Ulrich followed with a hit between third and short to give the Miners a 2-0 lead.

The Tritons cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning against Miner starter Aaron Bedsworth (New Bloomfield, Mo./New Bloomfield) on an RBI single by JonMichael Weaver.  UMSL tied the game in the fourth on a run scoring single by Hudson, then took the lead later in the inning on Dominic Orlando's sacrifice fly.

S&T had scoring opportunities in each of the last three innings – including getting runners to third in the fifth and sixth – but were unable to push the tying run across the plate.

The Miners (28-15, 13-9 GLVC) outhit the Tritons (25-18, 8-14 GLVC) 9-4 in the nightcap, with Johnson and Ulrich getting two apiece.  One of S&T's nine hits came off the bat of Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman), a single down the line in right in the fifth that made him the first Miner in history to accumulate 200 career hits.

Bedsworth took the loss for the Miners, despite allowing just the four hits.

Missouri S&T and UMSL are scheduled to face off again Saturday in a noon doubleheader.