MOBILE, Ala. – Missouri S&T started fast offensively and got solid pitching from four hurlers to open its 2019 schedule with a victory Friday afternoon, as the Miners took a 6-3 win over Spring Hill.

The Miners scored five runs over the first four innings and let the pitching and defense take care of the rest as they opened a season with a win on the road for the first time since beating St. Edward's in the 2015 opener.

S&T opened the scoring in the second as Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a hit by Tim Lira (Granger, IN/Penn) and came around to score on hit by Keegan Baxmeyer (Waterloo, IL/Freeburg).  Later in the inning, the Miners added to their lead on a sacrifice fly by Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) that brought home Lira.

The Miners also got a leadoff walk to get things started in the third, as Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) reached base in that manner and then reached second on a wild pitch.  Moments later, he came in to score on a double off the bat of Matt Gruse (Neenah, WI/Neenah).  After the next two hitters were retired, Lira singled home Gruse to increase the Miner lead to 4-0.

Burk drove in the Miners' fifth run in the fourth as his single scored Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo), who had singled and stole second.

S&T starter Dalton Erger (Imperial, MO/Seckman) held the Badgers off the scoreboard until the sixth, when Spencer Miller's two-run single brought home their first runs of the game.   One batter later, Will Boettcher (Metamora, IL/Metamora) took over on the hill with two runners on base and got a strikeout and a fly ball to escape the jam.

Spring Hill drew a run closer in the eighth, but the Miners got an insurance tally in the ninth on a hit by Gruse that was bobbled in the outfield to allow Burk to come home from third.

Connor Forsythe, the Miners' fourth pitcher of the afternoon, pitched around a one-out walk to preserve the win for Erger.  The Miner starter scattered six hits over 5 1/3 innings before Boettcher threw another scoreless frame after getting S&T out of the sixth.

Gruse had three hits and Lira added two for the Miners, who outhit Spring Hill 9-8 in the contest.

The Miners and Badgers will continue their four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader before playing a single game Sunday afternoon to complete the set.