ROLLA, Mo. – The wind was blowing, and the sun was shining Saturday at the Ballpark at S&T for the first two games of the weekend between Missouri S&T and Missouri-St. Louis. After rallying late in game one to pick up a come from behind 6-4 win, the Miners (9-6) blasted their way to a win in the nightcap, belting five homeruns over the course of the game to sweep the doubleheader from the Tritons (1-9) with a 20-11 win.
S&T struck first in the opener when
Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) drove in
Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) on an RBI groundout to shortstop for the first run of the afternoon. UMSL answered right back in the top of the second with a run on a sacrifice fly to even things back up at 1-1.
Following a scoreless third inning, the Green & Gold retook the lead in the fourth when
Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) grounded out to second to drive in
Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) to make it 2-1. The Tritons took their first lead of the game the following half inning with a one-out two-run home run to left field that made it a 3-2 game.
S&T answered in kind with four runs in the bottom the inning to regain the lead for good at 6-3. Sill and
Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) reached on back-to-back singles before
Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) singled to right to score Sill and tie the game. After a balk advanced the runners and a groundout failed to advance the cause,
Andrew Branson (St. James, MO/St. James) came through with a two-out two-run single to right center to score both men and make it 5-3. After a pitching change and passed ball advanced Branson,
Jack Arbuckle (Webster Groves, MO/Webster Groves) singled to right field for his first collegiate hit before
Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) plated Branson on a single for the fourth run of the inning.
UMSL scored an unearned run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly, but that would be all as S&T took the opener 6-4.
Chasen Anderson (Moscow Mills, MO/Troy Buchanan) came on in relief of starter
Cade Meier (Dakota, IL/Dakota) and worked the final two frames to record his third save of the season, striking out a pair. Meier (2-0) worked five strong innings in his second outing of the year, striking out five and allowing three runs on six hits.
Sill and Branson each went 2-3 at the plate and scored twice, while the latter had the big blow with the two-run single late.
Game two started off with plenty of offense in the first inning, which set the tone for what was to come over the remainder of the game. UMSL scored three runs in the top of the first on a single, bases loaded walk and wild pitch before the Miners answered with four of their own in the bottom of the inning. After a single and walk from Sill and Ruether were mixed in among a trio of stolen bases, Wood singled home Sill to get things going. Weiner followed with a sac fly to make it 3-2 before Branson hammered on deep to left center for his second home run of the season to make it a 4-3 game.
After a scoreless top of the second from
Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville), the Miners posted four more runs to lead 8-3. After two of the first three reached to begin the inning, Weiner stepped in and stepped out with a three-run home run to left field to make it a 7-3 game.
Cole Hampton (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) scored later in the inning on a passed ball on a dropped third strike with
Brady Voss (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) for the fourth run of the frame.
Following a scoreless third inning, S&T tacked on two more runs to make it 10-3 in the bottom of the fourth when Weiner went deep again, this time for two after a leadoff walk from Wood, for his fourth home run of the season.
UMSL got a lone run back in the fifth off reliever
Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) before managing four runs in the sixth to close within two. A leadoff walk to start the inning was followed by a two-run home run to make it 10-6. Morrow retired the next two Tritons but a hit by pitch and double put runners at second and third as S&T went to the bullpen.
Treyton Ruth (Rolla, MO/Rolla) issued a walk to his first batter of the season before giving up a single through the left side as the visitors closed to within two at 10-8.
A pair of walks followed by a wild pitch opened the bottom of the inning for S&T, as Branson plated Wood on an RBI groundout. Hampton followed up with a two-run blast of his own for his first big fly of the season to make it 13-8 and bring about a pitching change. After a hit by pitch and single,
Jaden Courtois (Festus, MO/Jefferson) singled to left center to score Voss before Sill reached on a free pass to load the bases. Another pitching change for UMSL was followed by an RBI single to second base by Ruther that made it a 15-8 game. Wood collected a sac fly next before Weiner singled through the left side as the inning ended with seven runs on the board and a nine-run cushion at 17-8.
S&T tacked on three more runs in the seventh, as Voss plated Branson on a sac fly before
Matt Souza (Escondido, CA/Christian) left the building for his first collegiate home run that scored Hampton and made it 20-8.
UMSL scored three in the eighth inning with two outs on a three-run home run off reliver
Matt Ellingson (Lenexa, KS/Olathe Northwest), but that would do little more than make it a 20-11 game.
Scott Henrich (West Bend, WI/West Bend) closed out the afternoon with a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap things up and put the Miners up 2-0 in the series.
Weiner finished the game 3-4 with seven RBI and three runs scored, finishing just one RBI shy of the single-game program record. Branson went 2-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored, while Wood went 2-4 with two RBI and scored four times himself. Souza also posted a 2-4 outing with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored as all nine starters logged a hit in the game.
Morrow (1-1) recorded the win in relief, working 2 2/3 inning and striking out two.
Treyton Ruth (Rolla, MO/Rolla) worked an inning and a third of scoreless relief in his debut outing of the season with two strikeouts, while Heinrich struck out one in his outing to wrap up the game.
As a team, S&T finished just one home run shy of the single-game record of six set earlier this season against Minnesota Crookston on March 1. The 20 runs scored in the game were the most since last season's wild 30-17 affair against William Jewell on April 26.
The series will conclude Sunday at the Ballpark at S&T with another doubleheader set for 12 P.M.
