MOBILE, Ala. – Missouri S&T's baseball team got off to another fast start Sunday afternoon, but was unable to hold off a Spring Hill rally as the Badgers scored eight unanswered runs to gain a split in the four-game series with an 8-4 win.
As had been the case in their two previous wins in the series, the Miners (2-2) had a big inning early in the contest as they scored four times in the second. It began with a leadoff walk to
Keegan Baxmeyer (Waterloo, IL/Freeburg), then
Drew Aldana (El Paso, TX/JM Hanks) reached on an error that allowed Baxmeyer to go all the way to third.
Kaleb Reid (Smithville, MO/Smithville) followed with a successful squeeze bunt that brought home Baxmeyer for the first run of the contest.
Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) then drew a walk and after a passed ball moved both runners ahead, Aldana scored when
Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) reached on an infield single; a subsequent throwing error by the third baseman allowed Hayes to come around to score as well. Burk would then steal third and score on
Matt Knickerbocker's (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) sacrifice fly.
Daniel Rodriguez got Spring Hill (2-2) on the board in the fourth with a two-out RBI double off S&T starter
Brenden Garza (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South), then the Badgers scored two more in the fifth to draw to within a run. Two innings later, the Badgers tied the score on a two-out RBI single by Mason Bonnafons, then took the lead when John Sklopan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Spring Hill would add three more runs before the seventh inning came to a close.
The Badgers outhit the Miners 11-7 in the contest and S&T had its third errorless game of the series, but was unable to take advantage of four Spring Hill errors.
Burk had three hits for the Miners while
Tim Lira (Granger, IN/Penn) had two.
Chase Stebbing (Wahoo, NE/Wahoo), the fourth of five pitchers used by the Miners Sunday, took the loss.
The Miners will not return to action until Feb. 20 when they play at Central Missouri, which will precede the home opener on Feb. 23 when they begin a weekend series with former Great Lakes Valley Conference member Wisconsin-Parkside at the S&T Ballpark.
