KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri S&T had a pair of six-run innings Saturday -- and the second of those big frames propelled the Miners to a victory in the second game of Saturday's Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader with Rockhurst and a split for the afternoon.
The Hawks (7-17, 2-6 GLVC) overcame the Miners' six-run sixth inning in game one with two runs in the bottom half of that inning for a 7-6 win, but the six-run outburst in the fifth inning of the nightcap sent S&T (12-13, 4-4 GLVC) on its way to a 13-8 win and a series victory, as the Miners took three of four in the weekend set at Loyola Park.
Following four scoreless innings in the second game, S&T sent 11 hitters to the plate in its six-run fifth. The inning began with singles by
Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) and
Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) before a walk to
Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, MO/Lutheran-St. Charles) loaded the bases.
Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) got an infield single to bring home Reid with the initial run of the game, then hits by Tim Kira and
Matt Gruse (Neenah, WI/Neenah) also drove in runs and drove Rockhurst starting pitcher Henry Weiler out of the contest.
Connor Forsythe made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly to plate Knickerbocker, then the Miners got their fifth run of the inning on a throwing error following a fly ball by
Drew Aldana (El Paso, TX/JM Hanks), which allowed Lira to score. The sixth run scored after the Miners had batted around on Reid's second hit of the inning that scored Gruse.
Rockhurst cut the lead in half by posting three runs in the fifth, but the Miners got on the board again in the sixth as Lira tripled home Swindle and later scored himself on an infield single by Gruse.
In the seventh, the Miners extended their advantage as Burk first drove in
Jason Volkmann (Liberty, MO/Liberty) – who had doubled to open the inning – then a Rockhurst error allowed
Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) to come across. Burk would score before the inning ended on a wild pitch.
The Hawks cut the S&T lead to 11-6 in the seventh, but the Miners tacked on an insurance run in each of the last two innings, scoring in the eighth on a squeeze bunt by Volkmann to score Gruse and in the ninth when
Zach Bracken (Berthoud, CO/Berthoud) singled home Burk.
S&T rang up a season-high 19 hits in game two, outhitting the Hawks 19-14, as Gruse had four hits and Reid had three. The beneficiary of the offense was winning pitcher
Trent Green (Perryville, MO/Perryville), who picked up his first win as he gave up just three unearned runs in 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.
After leaving runners on base in each of the first five innings of game one, the Miners broke through the sixth after loading the bases with nobody out. Following a hit by Knickerbocker and back-to-back walks to Lira and Gruse to prompt a pitching change by the Hawks, Forsythe and Aldana got hits off reliever Brock Collins to score the first two runs of the inning.
With one out, pinch-hitter
Justus Nelson (Plymouth, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong) cut the lead to one with a two-run single that scored Gruse and Forsythe and bring about the second pitching change of the frame. Moments after that, Swindle doubled to score Aldana with the tying run, then when the throw got away, Nelson came across with the go-ahead tally.
However, the Hawks answered back by scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth, taking the lead on Weiler's two-out, two-run double.
Rockhurst built its 5-0 lead in game one by scoring three times in the first and taking advantage of two Miner errors to score twice more in the second against S&T starter
Dalton Erger (Imperial, MO/Seckman), who kept the Hawks off the scoreboard over the next three innings.
Swindle and Forsythe had two hits apiece for the Miners, who outhit Rockhurst 10-9 in the first game.
Tuesday's scheduled single game with Fontbonne was postponed, so the Miners' next action will take place next Saturday when they open a four-game series with William Jewell at the S&T Ballpark. Saturday's doubleheader will get underway at noon.
