Prior to 2011, Missouri S&T had played 45 seasons of baseball in the modern era with relatively limited success.  In those seasons starting with the 1966 campaign, S&T teams had recorded only eight winning seasons, two conference championships – and none since 1972 – two conference tournament berths and one NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.  But in the spring of 2011, a new era in the program dawned.

For three straight seasons, the Miners were in contention for a spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament heading into the final weekend of the season.  In the last of those three years in 2010, S&T could only gain a split of a four-game series at Missouri-St. Louis that in turn, allowed Rockhurst to pass it in the standings to get the final spot from the GLVC West Division into the tournament.

So as the 2011 season was set to get underway, head coach Todd DeGraffenreid was optimistic that a group of talented newcomers to go along with a veteran roster would be enough to push the Miners over the top and into post-season play.

Some of that optimism came from what took place a few months prior to that.  The Miners faced a junior college for a weekend – with new equipment in play for the first time – and DeGraffenreid got a good idea of what was going to need to have success in the GLVC.

"One variable that was in our favor that year was that the bat changed, going from BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) bats to BBCORs (Bat-Ball Coefficent of Restitution)," DeGraffenreid said.  "That dummied down thing considerably on the offensive side. 

"I remember in the fall we played a scrimmage against a junior college and I think we scored six or seven runs all day long in 21 innings – we broke them into three sevens -- and we ended up winning all of those games," DeGraffenreid added.  "I thought that our pitching staff had a chance to be pretty good.  There wasn't going to be much offense, but we really got a feel for what these bats are going to do in the fall and just knew that we were probably going to be a small-ball team anyways, let's be the best small-ball team we can possibly be."

DeGraffenreid felt good about his pitching staff heading into the season, one led by junior Zack Gronek, who had been a starter as a freshman but pitched out of the bullpen as a sophomore as he wanted to be able to utilize him as much as possible in a relief role.

However, the Miners had a deeper staff heading into the 2011 season as Gronek was joined in the starting rotation by Chris Bowe and Kyle Robertson and had more resources in the bullpen.  The emergence of Harry Dunsford as a shutdown closer, Nolan Korn as a reliable setup man as well as freshmen John Auble and Drew Schrader to create a deep stable of arms in relief.

The big pitching question was the fourth starter role – as teams in the GLVC would be playing four games every weekend and needed a starter for that game.  By the time the conference season rolled around, that fourth starter became Alex Dunn, who earned that spot after throwing a one-hitter in a game against King prior to the start of the GLVC schedule.

"The fourth rotation spot – everyone is kind up in arms with that," DeGraffenreid said.  "Rarely do you have a set fourth starter at this level and you're very lucky and pretty happy with your pitching staff if you do.  You look at our stats and we tried a lot of guys.  Alex had to come in and pitch for Gronek that day and got seven other starts after that.  He did a good job as a number four."

Meanwhile, the everyday lineup had some good pieces already in place.  Will Morrison, the designated hitter in 2010, led the Miners with a .391 batting average and belted six home runs as did third baseman Zac Carter, who batted .369 and combined with Morrison to drive in 74 runs.  Ben Pieper, S&T's centerfielder, led the team with nine homers and batted .326.

But it was three transfers to the roster that may have provided the boost this team needed to take that next step.   Will McCord came in from Williston State College in North Dakota and became the team's leadoff hitter and everyday right fielder; he would bat .281 in that role and stole a team-high 16 bases.  In left, Lee Voth-Gaeddert – who had played at Bethel College – would give the Miners a strong defensive outfield along with Pieper and McCord and a solid middle of the order bat, as he ended up hitting .333 and drove in 26 runs.

The third newcomer was catcher Josh Caffrey, who came from Marshalltown Community College in Iowa and had a significant impact both at and behind the plate.

"Josh had the mentality of a catcher that you'd want," DeGraffenreid said.  "You don't expect your catchers to hit a lot for you, but during the stretch run of the season, he was our hottest guy.  When we needed a big hit, he got us a big hit.  When we needed a spark, he was the sparkplug.  Lee and Will were just consistent all season long.  Those guys came in and shored up our outfield with Pieper and then added some top and middle of the lineup bats with those three guys."

Caffrey ended up leading the Miners in hitting in 2011 with a .347 average and added a team-high 33 runs batted in, but was just as much of an impact player on the other side.  He helped guide the Miner pitching staff to a 3.68 earned run average as a team and threw out 21 of 46 runners that attempted to steal against him.

The additions of McCord, Voth-Gaeddert and Caffrey helped create a deeper S&T lineup with Carter and Pieper.  Morrison missed the 2011 season due to an injury, but the designated hitter role will filled well by Drew Davenport, who hit .288 and drove in 21 runs hitting behind McCord for much of the year.

The Miners were a bit up-and-down in the non-conference portion of the schedule, winning two games over Upper Iowa to start things out, then splitting four games at Arkansas-Monticello and being swept in a three-game set at Harding before heading to Bristol, Tenn., to take on King in their last series before conference play began.  It was in that series where some of the early concerns were eased thanks to strong pitching performances by Dunn and Robertson as the Miners swept a doubleheader on the first day of the series.

S&T entered conference play at 6-6 overall and opened its GLVC schedule against none other than the defending NCAA Division II national champions, Southern Indiana.  After the Screaming Eagles edged the Miners 2-1 in the first game of the March 19 doubleheader, the Miners had a chance to win game two in the bottom of the seventh.  With the score tied at one, S&T got two runners on base with two outs when McCord hit a ball through the right side of the infield to score Nick Burke…or so it appeared.

As the ball was going through the infield, it hit off the leg of the runner on first, Grant Brasher, who was called out on interference to end the inning and the run was wiped off the board.  USI scored twice in the top of the eighth to win the game, but even after getting swept, the Miners knew they were on a level playing field with the best teams in the GLVC.

S&T would win five of its next six conference games before heading to Rockhurst for a four-game series in early April.  The Miners rebounded from a 12-0 loss in game one to rout the Hawks 12-3 in the second game, then fell in the third game of the series before putting up one of the top offensive games in program history in the nightcap of the Sunday doubleheader, scoring 20 runs on 22 hits to get a split in the series prior to a midweek doubleheader at home against archrival Drury.

In the first game, the Miners took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning before the Panthers scored twice to tie it and then put another run on the board in the eighth to take a 3-2 lead.  But in the bottom of the ninth, the Miners got a game-tying RBI single from McCord, then won the game an inning later when Voth-Gaeddert crossed the plate with the winning run when the Panthers were unable to turn a potential inning-ending double play.

Game two also went the Miners' way in dramatic fashion.  S&T took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth when a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt allowed Voth-Gaeddert to score, but Drury tied the contest in the seventh to set up more drama in the bottom half of the inning.  The Miners scored the game-winning run without the benefit of a hit – two walks sandwiched around a hit batter loaded the bases for Voth-Gaeddert, who delivered a sacrifice fly down the right field line to score McCord to complete the sweep.

The Miners were 9-5 in the GLVC following those two victories and would see the Panthers again right after a doubleheader split at Illinois Springfield in the beginning of a critical week of play.   In the first game of the midweek twinbill in Springfield, the Miners got on the scoreboard immediately as McCord opened the game with a triple and a subsequent error on the relay back to the infield allowed him to come home. 

Drury tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, but S&T took the lead for good in the fifth with a three-run outburst and rode the pitching of Auble and Dunsford to complete the win.  The Miners then jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap, taking advantage of two Drury errors in the inning, and used four pitchers to finish off the victory and season sweep over the Panthers.

It was after winning that second game at Drury that DeGraffenreid felt the Miners were starting to gel as a team.

"We had always played them and it was always a good series with them, but we had never swept them," he said.  "When we did that, we felt really good about ourselves.  That really pushed us to the end of the year we won 10 games in a row and gave us that push into the regional spotlight."

Following the Drury sweep, the Miners dropped to 12-7 in the GLVC after dropping a 3-1 decision to Quincy in a matchup between two of the top starters in the GLVC in Gronek and QU's Mitchell Fairley – but that loss turned out to be the last S&T would suffer in conference play.

The Miners used a five-run second and a six-run fifth to win the nightcap 12-6 to stay on the heels of the Hawks in the GLVC West race, then moved into first place in the division a week later by sweeping a four-game series at Maryville.  The division title was theirs to win, but the Miners still had to navigate through a four-game series against Missouri-St. Louis to get there.

S&T took the first game of the series 8-6, but trailed 5-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth of game two of the series.  With one out, Carter belted a two-run homer – one of just 10 hit by the Miners all season – to cut the Triton lead to one and set up yet another dramatic late-game moment.

Freshman Clint Wobbe started the inning with a single down the line in left and was sacrificed over to second.  Following a hit by pinch-hitter Davenport that put runners on the corners, Caffrey was retired on a pop-up to bring the Miners down to their final out.  With Pieper at the plate, UMSL pitcher Kenny Bechaud uncorked a wild pitch that scored Wobbe with the tying run.

Davenport went to second and then ended up at third following a passed ball when Pieper drew a walk to bring up Voth-Gaeddert, who had been involved in many key moments during the season.  He would add to that on this day, blooping a ball that fell in just inside the left field line to win the game.

The Miners would go on to clinch the division title the next day, getting a two-hit shutout from Bowe and holding on for an 8-6 win to complete a second straight sweep of a four-game series – and it was on to the GLVC Tournament for the first time since joining the conference.

"Basically, we took care of business during that last part of the schedule," DeGraffenreid said.  "We were better than those teams and that's what you're supposed to do -- win the games you're supposed to win and try to steal a game or two here or there.  We did that.  That's a little bit of character that you hope your guys develop as it plays and understanding what it takes to win close games.  Not only come back and win close games, but be able to hold leads late is just as important."

S&T entered the GLVC Tournament as the No. 2 seed and extended its winning streak to a school record 10 games as it four times in the bottom of the seventh in a 6-2 win over Bellarmine.  Gronek continued his mastery over the GLVC, allowing just four hits and striking out seven in a complete game performance, while Caffrey had the big hit in the seventh with a two-run single to put the Miners in front.

Losses the following day to Northern Kentucky in extra innings and to Drury in an elimination game put the Miners on edge a bit as they were hopeful of receiving a bid to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional and on the Sunday evening following the conference tournament, the Miners got the news.

They were going to the regional – and the first opponent would be Southern Indiana.

"To get that shot at USI again that they played close and the reputation that they have…our guys were pumped," DeGraffenreid said.  "They felt like they got off the hook at our place and were looking forward to the challenge and opportunity to play those guys again.  If we were going to win the regional, it was probably going to go through them at some point anyway."

Gronek, who did not pitch in the two previous games against the Screaming Eagles, got the ball for S&T in that regional opener and outdueled Trevor Leach – the winning pitcher in the national championship game in 2010 – as he shut out USI on five hits and struck out seven.  The Miners gave him the only run he needed in the fifth on a successful squeeze bunt by Burke, then got him an insurance run in the seventh on a McCord RBI single.

S&T's dream season ended two days later, as it lost the following to Northern Kentucky when the Norse scored a tie-breaking run in the top of the ninth and then to Wayne State (Mich.) in an elimination game, as the Miners were unable to overcome a four-run deficit despite getting the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth inning.

The 30-19 season did, though, set the stage for the best run of success in the history of the Miner baseball program.  S&T won the GLVC West again the following year and earned two more regular season titles before the decade ended, including a glorious run in 2016 when the Miners advanced all the way to the Midwest Regional championship game.

"It definitely was the jump-start," DeGraffenreid said, in looking back at the impact of the 2011 season on the seasons that followed.  "I look at the guys who got the experience in 2010 too, because that experience helped tremendously.  But yes, this set the tone of what we wanted to do and changed the expectations of our players and what they expected from themselves and what I expected from them.

"We've come up a little bit short in winning a conference tournament, but the expectations remain," he added.  "I think I've always said is that one thing that separates us it's not the ability that we'll run out on the field, it's going to be the chemistry that we have.  We're not always going to be the most talented team that plays every weekend, but what we want to be is the best team that plays every weekend and part of being the best team is that chemistry.  Guys play hard for one another and have a shared expectation."

A persona that was developed into fruition 10 seasons ago.