OZARK, Mo. – Missouri S&T carried a lead into the bottom of the sixth inning of game two of Saturday's doubleheader with Drury seeking to gain a split with the Panthers, but a seven-run outburst gave Drury an 8-4 win and a sweep of the Great Lakes Valley Conference twinbill at U.S. Ballpark.  Drury won game one 7-2.

Saturday's doubleheader was the GLVC opener for both teams.

S&T had the lead throughout game two until the sixth, scoring single runs in the third and fourth innings and two more in the sixth after Drury got on the scoreboard in the fifth.

In the third, Eli Miller (Shelbyville, IL/Shelbyville) singled home Tim Lira (Granger, IN/Penn) to put S&T in front, then an RBI groundout by Matt Reschke (Darien, IL/Hinsdale South) in the fourth scored Adam Richter (Breese, IL/Mater Dei).

After Drury got a run off Miner starter Anthony Garza (Belleviille, IL/Belleville East) on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Colombo in the fifth, S&T padded its lead in its half of the sixth as Miller led off with a hit and Justus Nelson (Plymouth, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong) reached on an error, preceding a sacrifice bunt, an RBI groundout by Richter that scored Miller and a hit by Reschke to drive home Nelson to make it 4-1 through five and one-half innings.

But in the bottom half of the sixth, the Panthers got back-to-back hits to start the inning and chase Garza, then Dylan Bradshaw greeted reliever Stuart Martin (Ajax, ON/Ajax) with an RBI single to trim the lead to 4-2.  A passed ball moved the runners up, then Justin Abernathy reached on an infield hit to score Ryan Kayhill to get Drury to within a run.

Following another pitching change followed, then Caleb Essick reached on an throwing error to allow the tying and go-ahead runs to come across.  Drury would add three more runs before the inning ended.

The Panthers (14-6, 2-0 GLVC) outhit S&T (9-11, 0-2 GLVC) 10-8 in game two; Miller and Reschke had two hits apiece for the Miners.

In the opener, the Panthers got out to a 3-0 lead in the opening inning, taking the lead after Ryan Colombo reached on an one-out error and later scoring on a hit by Nic Perkins.  Later in the inning, KK Daniel drove in Shane Benes with an RBI single, then Perkins scored when Ryan Kayhill reached on a fielder's choice.

S&T got two of the runs back in the second, as Richter and Reschke got hits to start the inning off and Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) doubled one out later to score Richter.  Later in the frame, Reschke crossed the plate on an infield out.

The Miner offense, however, was shut down from that point forward by Colombo, who allowed only one hit after the second – a fifth inning single by Reid – and recorded six of his eight strikeouts over the final seven innings.

Drury tacked on single runs in the third on Daniel's home run and in the fourth on an RBI single by Perkins, then tallied two more in the sixth on a run-scoring triple by Benes and another RBI hit of the bat of Perkins.

Starting pitcher Trent Green (Perryville, MO/Perryville) took the loss, allowing four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts.  Reid had two of the Miners' four hits as S&T was outhit 12-4.

The Miners and Panthers will square off in the final two games of the weekend series Sunday beginning at noon.