KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Needing to bounce back from a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, Missouri S&T's baseball team took the final two games of its series at Rockhurst Sunday with wins of 9-3 and 5-0.

The twinbill sweep moved the Miners to 9-11 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and to 13-15 overall, as they rose into fourth place in the GLVC Green Division standings just percentage points in back of the Hawks (14-14, 11-13 GLVC).

The Miners jumped out on top in the opening inning of game one as the first four hitters reached base; the fourth of them, Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette), drove in two with a single with the bases loaded.  The third run of the inning scored when Tate Morrell (Lloydminster, AB) grounded out to allow Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) to cross the plate.

S&T added two more in the second, starting when Braden Mahurin (Dixon, MO/Dixon) was hit by a pitch to start the frame, reached third following a hit by Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) and scoring on a hit by Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North).  After Ward walked to load the bases, Weiner drove in his third run of the game when the Hawks were unable to turn a potential inning-ending double play as Hayes came in to score.

Rockhurst got on the board in the second on Connor Ellefsen's RBI double, but S&T answered back in the top of the third as Morrell led off with a double and later scored when Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) reached on a fielder's choice.

The Hawks scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth to trim the S&T lead to 6-3, but S&T starter and winning pitcher Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) pitched out of the inning and reliever David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) threw two scoreless innings to pick up the save.

The Miners gave Kephart some breathing room in the seventh when they scored three times.  The first tally was an unearned run, as Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) drew a walk, advanced to second when Morrell was hit by a pitch and scored on a throwing error and later in the seventh, Hayes doubled in two additional runs.

Meier allowed just one earned run and five hits in his five innings of work, striking out four along the way.  Hayes had three hits for the Miners and Morrell had two, as S&T outhit Rockhurst 9-7 in game one.

Morrell got the Miners on the board to start game two when he belted a two-out home run in the second inning. S&T added two more runs before that frame ended, as Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) followed with a hit and then moved around to third thanks to a wild pickoff throw and a passed ball.  Another error on a ball hit by Brady Wildschuetz (Foristell, MO/Francis Howell) allowed Voss to score, then Wildschuetz would come across the plate on an opposite field single by Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing).

Rockhurst threatened in the fifth against Miner starter Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) as it leaded the bases with one out, but Mick Von Feldt (St. Charles, IA/Interstate 35) entered the contest and got a strikeout and a ground ball to end the inning.  Von Feldt kept the shutout intact through the seventh, then S&T tacked on two more runs in the eighth when Wood singled in a run and a second scored on the play due to an error on the left fielder.

Kephart got the final five outs to complete the sweep as the Miners recorded their second shutout of the season; the other one came in a win on March 6 at Missouri-St. Louis.

The Miners outhit the Hawks 12-7, with Hayes, Morrell and Sill all picking up two hits apiece.

The Miners will return to the Kansas City area next weekend for a four-game series against William Jewell in Liberty, Mo., a series that will begin Friday afternoon.