LIBERTY, Mo. – Missouri S&T middle infielders Will Hayes (Terre Haute, IN/South Vigo) and Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) had critical roles in the 10^th inning Saturday afternoon, allowing the Miners to take the first game of their four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series at William Jewell with a 7-6 win.

After the Cardinals (10-19, 8-17 GLVC) had tied the contest in the bottom of the ninth, Hayes drove in Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) with what turned out to be the winning run.  S&T (14-15, 10-11 GLVC) held on for the win after Wood made a diving catch to his left of Arian Jimenez-Quezada's line drive for the final out to preserve the victory.

Sill led off the 10^th with a triple over the head of the centerfielder and crossed the plate with the go-ahead run when Hayes hit a soft liner over a drawn-in infield.  The Cardinals had runners at first and third with two outs in the bottom of the 10^th before Wood's defensive gem ended the game.

The Miners scored in each of the first two innings – sandwiching a first inning run recorded by the Cardinals – scoring in the first when Hayes led off with a triple and scoring on a ground rule double by Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) and in the second when Sill singled in Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James), who reached when he was hit by a pitch.

William Jewell grabbed the lead in the third with a three-run outburst, getting back-to-back RBI singles by Cole Conner and Jade Smoot that was followed by an run-scoring groundout off the bat of Nick Modrcin.

S&T threatened in the fourth when it got two runners on base with one out, but a line drive double play ended that scoring opportunity.  It did draw a run closer in the fifth when Wood led the inning off with a triple and came in to score on Garrett Weiner's (Alton, IL/Marquette) sacrifice fly, only to see the Cardinals regain their two-run lead in the bottom half when Conner delivered his third RBI hit of the day.

The Miners again trimmed the lead to one in the seventh when Weiner singled with one out and moved around the bases on a walk to Landon Bell (Seymour, MO/Seymour), a hit by Branson and an opposite field single by Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty).  Jewell turned a double play to escape from that inning, but the Miners staged a two-run rally to take the lead in the eighth.

Sill led off the eighth with a double, then went to third when Hayes reached on a bunt single.  Moments later, a wild pitch allowed Sill to come home with the tying run.  Hayes ended up at third after the wild pitch and a ground out by Wood, then Michael Ward (Hazelwood, MO/Hazelwood West) brought him home with the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.

Bryce Charipar (Cedar Rapids, IA/Xavier), who entered the contest on the mound in the fifth, pitched around a leadoff double and an error in the eighth to keep S&T in front, but the Cardinals tied the contest in the ninth on a Conner sacrifice fly off eventual winning pitcher David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest).

Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) got his first career start for the Miners and pitched into the fifth before Charipar took over and allowed just one hit with three strikeouts over his 3 2/3 innings on the hill.

The Miners outhit the Cardinals 15-14 with Hayes and Sill getting three hits apiece.  Wood, Voss and Braden Mahurin (Dixon, MO/Dixon) also had two hits each for S&T, who will face Jewell in a doubleheader Sunday beginning at noon.