OZARK, Mo. – A five-run uprising with two outs in the sixth inning and a strong performance by Missouri S&T pitchers Dalton Erger (Imperial, MO/Seckman) and Anthony Garza (Belleviille, IL/Belleville East) netted the Miners a 5-2 victory over fourth-ranked Illinois Springfield Thursday night in the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at US Baseball Park.

Thursday's win moves the Miners (26-24) into a winner's bracket matchup on Friday against Quincy at 7:30 p.m.  The Hawks captured their opening round contest with a 10-inning win over Southern Indiana.

Erger and UIS starter Justin Revels were locked up in a pitcher's duel for the first five innings as the two hurlers had allowed a combined three hits and 13 strikeouts during that time.  But with the Prairie Stars (45-6) up 1-0 heading to the sixth, Revels was taken out of the contest and the Miners jumped on the UIS bullpen after the first two hitters were retired in the inning.

Colton Hale retired the first two Miner hitters in the sixth, but walked Matt Gruse (Neenah, WI/Neenah) and allowed an infield single to Conner Forsythe (Farmington, MO/Farmington) to precede a game-tying hit by Tim Lira (Granger, IN/Penn), as his blooper down the right field line fell in out of the reach of second baseman Myles Hann to score Gruse.

The Miners moved in front moments later when Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) singled through the hole to left to bring home Conner Forsythe (Farmington, MO/Farmington) with the go-ahead run.   Following a pitching change, Justus Nelson (Plymouth, MN/Robbinsdale Armstrong) drew a walk to load the bases before Jack DeGarmo (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) walked on a full count pitch to force in a run and extend the Miner lead to 3-1.

S&T added two more runs before the inning ended when Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) reached on an error, then a wild throw by Rothmund allowed Nelson to follow Knickerbocker across the plate with the fifth run of the inning.

Erger pitched through the seventh, allowing just three hits and matching his career high with eight strikeouts before turning the game over to Garza in the eighth.  Garza gave up a one-out solo home run to Nick Stokowski, but  pitched around a hit that followed by Michael Rothmund with a foul out and a fielder's choice.  In the ninth, Garza struck out two more, including a game-ender on Jack Schaaf.

The Prairie Stars drew first blood in the opening inning when Cole Taylor belted a one-out solo home run off Erger.  However, Erger got strikeouts in the second and third innings after issuing two-out walks on both occasions and again in the fourth following a one-out walk to keep the margin at one.

S&T got two runners on base against UIS starter Justin Revels in the third, but a double play ended that scoring chance, then the Miners lost another runner on the bases in the fourth when Gruse was picked off after drawing a walk with one out.  The Miners had another threat when their first two hitters in the fifth were hit by pitches, but Revels struck out the next three hitters to get out of the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, UIS loaded the bases with two outs, thanks in part to a double by Taylor on a ball that was chopped over the head of Lira at first base.  Following a walk to Stokowski to load the bases, Erger fanned Rothmund to end that frame.

UIS had six hits while the Miners finished with five, two of them off the bat of Nelson.  The two S&T hurlers combined to strike 11 Prairie Stars in the contest.