KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri S&T was unable to prevent the big inning Saturday afternoon as they lost both ends of a doubleheader to Rockhurst in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, as the Hawks defeated the Miners by scores of 8-5 and 15-1 at Loyola Park.

Rockhurst posted a five-run first inning in game one, then had innings with four and eight runs in the nightcap as it improved to 14-12 overall and 11-11 in conference play.  The Miners dropped to 11-15 overall and 7-11 in the GLVC.

The Hawks put their five runs on the scoreboard in the opening inning of game one after the Miners left two on base in the top half of the inning.  The first run scored on a balk, then following run-scoring hits by Ty Herrenbruck and Connor Ellefsen, Cameron Gardner drove in the final two with a two-run single.

Rockhurst added two more runs in the second before the Miners cut into the Hawk lead in the third.  Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) led off the inning with a double and Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) was hit by a pitch with one out, leading to a run-scoring single off the bat of Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette).  After Keegan Baxmeyer (Waterloo, IL/Freeburg) was hit by a pitch, Landon Bell (Seymour, MO/Seymour) delivered a sacrifice fly to score Ward.

The Miners' other two runs in the third came courtesy of an RBI single by Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) and a wild pitch that allowed Baxmeyer to cross the plate with the fourth run of the frame.

Rockhurst added to its lead with a run in the sixth and the Miners answered that with a run in the eighth on Tate Morrell's (Lloydminster, AB) RBI double, but was unable to get any closer.

The Hawks outhit the Miners 11-9 in game one; Hayes, Weiner and Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) all had two hits apiece for S&T.  Nate Wodka (Allen, TX/Allen) took the loss on the hill for the Miners.

S&T took the lead in the first inning of game two when Hayes was hit by a pitch to start the contest and eventually came around to score on an opposite field single by Weiner, but the Miners were shut down after that by Rockhurst lefthander Jack Eisenbarger.  After the first inning, Eisenbarger allowed only a second inning single to Baxmeyer and one in the fifth to Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) as he struck out 11 in his six innings of work.

The Miners had a threat in the second as they had two runners on with one out, but couldn't add any additional runs and then fell behind an inning later.

Rockhurst took the lead on Nic Mertes' two-run single off S&T starter Rian Markes (Columbia, MO/Father Tolton) in the third, then broke the game open with four runs in the fourth and eight in the fifth.

The teams will wrap up the weekend series with a doubleheader Sunday beginning at noon.