ROLLA, Mo. – The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and probably most important of all, it was warm Monday afternoon at the Ballpark at S&T for the second and third games of a four game series between Missouri S&T and Minnesota Crookston. The Miners (2-1) came out on top 1-0 in a pitcher's duel in game one to reach a landmark milestone, before the Golden Eagles (4-8) powered their way to a 16-2 win in the nightcap.
In the seven inning contest to start the day, runs and hits were at a premium as both starters were able to navigate the opposing lineups with great success.
S&T broke through for the lone run of the game in the third inning, when
Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) singled to left with two outs to score
Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing), who sparked the two out rally with a single and subsequent stolen base.
That one run would be all S&T starter
Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) (1-0) would end up needing, as he worked five shutout innings of three-hit baseball while striking out six without allowing a walk before handing things over to
David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest), who worked the final two frames and retired all six batters he faced to pick up his first save of the season.
The win was the 400th career win for S&T head coach
Todd DeGraffenreid. The winningest coach in program history, 2022 is DeGraffenreid's 19th season at the helm in Rolla and has guided S&T to four GLVC divisional or regular season titles and two NCAA appearances and built the baseball program in Rolla to be consistently one of the top teams in the GLVC.
Game two saw Minnesota Crookston score first, early and often. After single runs in both the second and third innings, the Golden Eagles scored two in the fifth before adding 12 more in the final three innings of the day. The Miners got on the board in the sixth when Ruether scored Sill again on a line single to left center, and scored again in the ninth on a Sill sacrifice fly following a triple by
Tate Morrell (Lloydminster, AB/).
Freshman
Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) (0-1) took the loss in his collegiate debut, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four against two walks in his 3 2/3 innings of work before turning it over it over to the bullpen. Ruether finished the game 2-5 while Sill,
Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) and
Jaden Courtois (Festus, MO/Jefferson) also found their way into the hit column in the game.
The series will wrap up Tuesday with a single nine-inning contest, with first pitch scheduled for around 3 P.M.
