ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri S&T's baseball team produced some late-inning heroics Saturday afternoon, getting a three-run homer from Tate Morrell (Lloydminster, AB/) in extra innings to win the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Missouri-St. Louis and scoring in the seventh inning of game two to force extra innings before the contest was suspended.

Morrell's eighth inning home run broke a scoreless tie to allow the Miners (3-3) to win the opener 3-0, then the Miners forged a tie in the seventh inning of game two when Landon Bell's (Seymour, MO/Seymour) ground out scored Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) to knot the game at five; the game continued through the ninth inning before it was called due to darkness.

The teams will pick up the suspended game in the 10^th inning at noon Sunday before playing the regularly scheduled nine-inning contest at the UMSL Baseball Field.

Game one saw S&T's Rian Markes (Columbia, MO/Father Tolton) and UMSL's Holden Mayberry locked up in a pitcher's duel, with Markes allowing only six hits and striking out eight over 6 1/3 innings.  Mayberry matched him during his seven innings on the hill, as he also fanned eight and gave up just two hits while walking four.

The Miners had good scoring chances in the sixth and seventh innings, but two strikeouts ended the sixth inning threat and then the Miners lost a runner on the bases in the seventh after having one at second with one out.  UMSL had a chance in the bottom of the seventh after getting its leadoff man on, but Markes and reliever Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) got the Miners out of the inning.

In the top of the eighth, Ward drew a one-out walk and stole second, then Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) drew a walk with two outs before Morrell belted a home run over the fence in right to for the first runs of the contest.

Mollett proceeded to strike out the first two hitters he faced in the eighth before getting Josh Shoemaker on a fly ball to center to end the game and pick up the win in relief.

The Miners grabbed the lead in game two when Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) singled in Morrell in the second inning, then S&T added a run in the fourth on Brady Wildschuetz's (Foristell, MO/Francis Howell) RBI single. 

S&T starter Nate Wodka (Allen, TX/Allen) set down the first nine Tritons in order, but UMSL (1-4) pushed a run across in the fourth on a wild pitch before the Miners got that run back in the fifth when Ward singled, stole second and came around to score on a two-out single by Bell.  UMSL cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth on a Brandon Pasley RBI single, but Sill drove in his second run in the sixth when he singled in Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty).

The Tritons, however, tallied three runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking the lead on a two-run single off the bat of Mitchell Spindler, but the Miners drew even again in the seventh when Ward doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Bell's ground ball that UMSL first baseman Mitch Green had to go to his knees to field and prevented any throw to be made to the plate.

The Miners had a two-out threat in the ninth but were unable to score.  UMSL had two runners on in the ninth, but Bryce Charipar (Cedar Rapids, IA/Xavier) – the fifth pitcher used by S&T in game two – got two fly ball outs to end the inning before the game was called.  S&T currently holds an 11-9 edge in hits in the contest.