JACKSON, Miss. – Missouri S&T's baseball team had two opportunities to close out a win in the second game of Friday's season opening doubleheader against Mississippi College, but the Choctaws rallied on both occasions and pulled out the contest 5-4 in eight innings to complete of the twinbill.  Mississippi College won game one 8-3.

The Miners (0-2) overcame an early 2-0 deficit to tie the game with two runs in the fourth, then took the lead with a run in the sixth.  After the Choctaws (4-1) scored the game-tying run in the seventh, S&T regained the advantage in the eighth, only to see Mississippi College score twice in the bottom half of the inning to win the game.

After the Choctaws scored single runs in each of the first two innings off S&T starter Anthony Garza (Belleviille, IL/Belleville East), the Miners tallied two in the fourth to draw even.  Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, MO/Lutheran-St. Charles) led off the inning with a hit, moved up on a one-out single by Tim Lira (Granger, IN/Penn) and scored on a two-out hit by Connor Forsythe.

Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) followed with a hit to bring home Lira with the tying run.

Meanwhile, Garza kept the Choctaws off the scoreboard despite allowing runners to reach in every inning through the first six, but got the lead when he took the mound in the sixth when Burk drove in pinch-runner Jason Volkmann (Liberty, MO/Liberty) with two outs in the inning.

Garza turned the game over to Forsythe in the seventh, but Mississippi College got its first two runners on base in the inning and tied it when a passed ball allowed Kyle Smith to score.  Forsythe did get out of the inning with a strikeout and a ground ball with the winning run at third.

S&T regained the advantage in the eighth when Matt Gruse (Neenah, WI/Neenah) led off the inning with a hit, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a ground out, then scored on a hit by Forsythe.  But in the bottom of the inning, the Choctaws got their leadoff man on and then an error on a ball hit by Ty Aldeman put runners at second and third with nobody out.

A hit by Hunter Sykes tied the game up before S&T intentionally walked Smith to load the bases, which preceded a game-winning sacrifice fly by Grant Barber.

The Miners outhit the Choctaws 9-7 in game two as Swindle, Lira, Forsythe and Burk all had two hits apiece.

In the opener, the Miners jumped out on top in the opening inning when Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) reached on an error to opening the inning, moved around to third after a walk and an infield hit by Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) and scored when Gruse was hit by a pitch.

However, the Miners could not score any additional runs after having the bases loaded with one out and the Choctaws scored twice in the bottom half of the inning and three more in the second off S&T starter Dan Borek (Greenville, WI/Hortonville) to take a 5-1 lead after two innings of play.

The Miners drew closer in the fourth as they loaded the bases on hits by Burk, Reid and Justus Nelson (Plymouth, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong).  Burk scored on a double play ball, then following a walk to Swindle, Reid crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it 5-3.  However, Mississippi College got those two runs back in the sixth and added another in the seventh for the final margin.

Both teams had 11 hits in the opener with five Miners having two hits apiece.  Borek was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs in five innings of work with one strikeout.

The Miners and Choctaws will wrap up their weekend series Saturday with two more contests.