ROLLA, Mo. – A big first inning propelled Missouri S&T's baseball team to a 12-4 win Friday afternoon over Quincy at the S&T Ballpark as the teams opened a four-game weekend series in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
The Miners (7-6, 3-2 GLVC) sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven times in the opening inning as they beat the Hawks (8-5, 5-4 GLVC) for the first time in seven games. S&T also banged out 20 hits in the contest, the most a Miner team has had in a game in a decade.
After
Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) pitched around a leadoff hit in the top half of the first, the Miners went right to work in the bottom half.
Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) reached on an infield single and went to third on a hit by
Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North).
Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) followed by hitting a fly ball down the right field line, where Quincy right fielder Cole Evans slipped in the wet outfield as he was trying to stop his momentum to make the catch.
The ball fell for a double that allowed Hayes to score, then Wood and Ward scored on groundouts to give the Miners a 3-0 lead. S&T then got the offense going again with two outs as
Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) doubled into the gap in left center to score
Tate Morrell (Lloydminster, AB), before Voss scored following hits by
Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) and
Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing). Hayes came up for the second time in the first and after a wild pitch advanced the runners, he drove in both with a hit between third and short to complete the seven-run first.
S&T added a run in the second when
Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) singled in Ward, who connected for the second of his three doubles to start the inning.
Meier held the Hawks off the scoreboard until the sixth when they pushed three runs across, but the Miners scored twice in the seventh as Branson reached on an error and went to second on a balk; he would cross the plate moments after that on Voss' second run-scoring hit of the afternoon. Voss then stole second and came home on an opposite field single by Hughes.
The Miners scored their final two runs in the eighth as Hayes came home following a throwing error as he was stealing third and Wood scored the second run on Ward's fourth hit of the game.
Meier scattered 10 hits over seven innings to pick up his second win of the season.
Ward and Hayes had four hits apiece, while five other Miners recorded two hits as S&T had its most hits in a game since getting 22 in a 2011 win at Rockhurst. The Miners had at least one hit in seven of the eight innings it batted on Friday.
The Miners will face Quincy in a doubleheader Saturday at the S&T Ballpark beginning at noon.
