ROLLA, Mo. – After dropping game one of its Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Friday to Rockhurst, Missouri S&T rebounded in the nightcap for a 7-5 win to gain a split of the first two games of the weekend series.  The Hawks took a 4-2 decision in the opener.

The Miners fell behind in game two as well, but put five runs on the board in the third inning and added two key insurance runs two innings later to improve to 20-10 overall and 6-4 in the GLVC.

Rockhurst scored single runs in the second and third innings against S&T starter Keith Coulson (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) before the Miners broke loose in the bottom half of the third.  The uprising started with a leadoff single by Collin Zurweller (St. Peters, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East), then Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, Texas/Cushing) reached on an error on a bunt, the first of four Hawk errors in the inning.

Following a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Bodenstab (Independence, Mo./Truman), Justus Nelson (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) singled up the middle to tie the score and ended up at third moments later when Eli Miller (Shelbyville, Ill./Shelbyville) singled.  After Miller stole second, Nick Ulrich (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney) then chopped a ball towards the mound, but Rockhurst pitcher Henry Weiler threw the ball past the catcher, which allowed both runners to score.

Later in the inning, Ulrich scored on Lance Portwood (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Santa Fe)'s sacrifice fly.

The Hawks got a run closer in the fifth when Brett Marr scored on a double play, but the Miners put two on the board in the bottom of the frame when Portwood delivered a two-run single with two outs to score Nelson and Miller.

Rockhurst got within two in the sixth when it strung together four straight one-out hits, but Dalton Erger (Imperial, Mo./Seckman) entered the game for the Miners with the tying runs on base and retired Weiler on a ball hit in front of the plate and struck out Seth Soto to end the threat.

The Hawks got two runners on in the seventh as well against Ethan Krenning (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South), but he got pinch-hitter Wylson Lamb on a soft liner to first to end the game.

Miller had four of the Miners' eight hits in game two, while Nelson completed a four-hit day with two in the nightcap.  Coulson improved to 5-2 with the win while Krenning picked up his third save.

The opener, which began with strong, gusty winds blowing out to right field, saw both teams score two runs in a first inning that lasted nearly 30 minutes.  After the Hawks scored their two in the first, the Miners answered back when Bodenstab reached on an infield hit, stole second and scored on hit by Nelson over the head of the shortstop.

Nelson would then advance to third on a wild pitch and scored when the throw to left went past the third baseman.

After Rockhurst regained the lead on Lamb's solo homer in the second, the Miners had chances against Hawk starter Michael Lydon-Lorson in the next two innings.  Portwood reached third with one out in the second but couldn't go any farther, then S&T had two on with one out in the third before two fly balls ended that threat.

Lydon-Lorson then set the Miners down in order in each of the next three innings and got another run to work with on Mitch Stickney's home run in the sixth.  S&T got its leadoff man on in the seventh when Portwood doubled and had two on with one out in the eighth but failed to score.

S&T outhit Rockhurst (15-16, 6-4 GLVC) 6-5 in the first game, but struck out 10 times against Lydon-Lorson.  Dan Borek (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) took the loss for the Miners, despite recording a career-high eight strikeouts.

The Miners and Hawks will close their weekend set with another doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon.