KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After dropping their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener to Rockhurst, the Missouri S&T baseball team exploded in record fashion in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader to gain a split of the twinbill.
The Miners routed the Hawks 23-4 in the second game after Rockhurst took a 4-2 decision in the first game. The 23 runs tallied were the most ever by the Miners in a GLVC contest, exceeding the 21 scored in a 2010 win over Wisconsin-Parkside.
S&T (6-8, 1-1 GLVC) jumped on the Hawks from the outset in the second contest, scoring twice in the first on RBI hits off the bats of
Keegan Baxmeyer (Waterloo, IL/Freeburg) and
Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) and then scored five in the second, beginning with
Brady Wildschuetz's (Foristell, MO/Francis Howell) two-run double.
Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) drove in the third run of the inning before hits by Baxmeyer and Wood brought home the other two.
The Miners extended their lead to 9-0 in the third before the Hawks (8-6, 1-1 GLVC) got on the scoreboard with two in the bottom half of the inning, but S&T got its offense rolling again in the fifth. Most of the damage came with two outs, as Wood belted a two-run homer and the Miners scored their second run on a double steal with
Matt Miller (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) crossing the plate.
In the sixth, S&T loaded the bases with one out and scored the first two of its six runs in the frame when Baxmeyer and Wood were hit by pitches to force in runs.
Cole Hampton's (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) ground-rule double brought home two more and
Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) knocked in two more when he followed with a hit.
Hampton belted a grand slam as part of a five-run seventh inning to cap the scoring on the afternoon as he drove in six runs with his two hits. Wood had four of the Miners' 16 hits in the nightcap and drove in five, while Baxmeyer and Wildschuetz had three hits apiece.
Chasen Anderson (Moscow Mills, MO/Troy Buchanan) threw the first 5 2/3 innings to get the win on the mound for S&T.
The Miners got the initial lead in game one in the second inning, as
Matt Miller (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch by Rockhurst starter Jack Eisenbarger. Later in the frame,
AJ Marsh (High Ridge, MO/Seckman) drew a walk and stole second, then crossed the plate following a two-out single by
Aaron Berkhoff (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain).
Rockhurst tied the game in the fourth against S&T starter
Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) on Joe Specht's two-run homer, then took the lead an inning later on Nathan Mark's RBI double. The Hawks added to their lead in the sixth when Connor Ellefsen drove in Tommy Kraus with a two-out single.
The Miners got the tying run to the plate in the ninth when Marsh drew a leadoff walk, but reliever Thomas Marks retired the next three hitters to close out the contest.
S&T was held to six hits in the opener by Eisenbarger and Jones as the Hawks outhit the Miners 7-6. Meier, who took the loss, gave up six hits and struck out five in his 5 1/3 innings of work. Miller and Ward had two hits each for the Miners in game one.
The Miners and Hawks will wrap up their weekend series with a single game on Sunday at noon.
