ROLLA, Mo. – After finally getting their 2022 season underway over the first part of this week, the Missouri S&T baseball team will hit the road for the first time in the early going to kick off a seven-game road trip when they visit Drury starting Friday at the U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark. The teams will play a doubleheader Friday with single games scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday.
 
The Miners (2-2) took the first two games of the weekend against Minnesota Crookston, including head coach Todd DeGraffenreid's 400^th career win, but came up short in the final two games to split the four game set with the Golden Eagles.
 
Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) turned in a stellar outing on opening day, working six innings and striking out 11 without issuing a walk and allowing just two runs as he picked up the win. Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) was also strong in his start, working five innings and striking out six while allowing three hits and issuing no free passes. Dylan Dunbar (West Plains, MO/West Plains) and David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) recorded saves in the two wins, turning in strong performances out of the bullpen in the first two games of the series.
 
At the dish, the Miners have already gone deep as a team seven times, including a single-game record six times in the finale Tuesday. Aaron Berkhoff (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain) accounted for three of those Tuesday, setting a new single-game individual record in doing so, and has four big flies on the season, and is currently batting .400 with nine RBI. Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) checks in with a .385 average while Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) is sporting a .333 average with a homerun and a triple. Newcomer Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) is hitting .294 with three runs batted in while Braden Mahurin (Dixon, MO/Dixon) is hitting .600 with a home run, three RBI, three walks and is tied for the team lead with four runs scored.
 
Drury (10-0) is coming off a three-game sweep of Wisconsin Parkside over the weekend in which they outscored the Rangers 53-10. The Panthers' closest game this season was a 10-6 win in game one last weekend, and have scored 10 or more runs on eight occasions already, outscoring their opponents 148-32.
 
Six regulars are batting over .400 for DU, including two over the .500 mark, led by Aaron Mann (.556, 6 2B, 3B, HR, 19 RBI) and Nikko Calabro (.512, 7 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 22 RBI), who leads the team in runs scored and is tied with two others with four homeruns to lead the team. Stephen Randazzo (.444, 4 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 15 RBI) and Wes Collins (.273, 4 HR, 10 RBI) join Calabro, while D.J. McNew (.485, 4 2B, 3B, 16 RBI), Brant Schaffitzel (.435, 3 2B, 2 3B, 8 RBI) and Tyler Bastunas (.412, 2 3B, 8 RBI) round out Drury's hot hitting group. On the bases, DU has yet to be caught stealing and is 26-26 on the season, led by Kaden Helsel's six swipes, followed by NcNew with five and Jackson Dierenfeldt with four.
 
On the hill, Drury's rotation is made up of Mason Meeks, Cody Bahl and Colby Childs, who have a combined seven wins between them. Meeks (3-0) has worked 22 innings and sports a 2.45 ERA with 18 strikeouts and held teams a .158 BAA, while Bahl (3-0) has struck out a team-leading 24 in 18 innings and posted a 3.00 ERA while holding opponents to a .175 average. Childs (1-0) has an ERA over five and while he does have 15 strikeouts this season, has struggled with commands and has 14 walks on the season, over a quarter of DU's team total of 40. Out of the bullpen, Logan Pittman has been the go-to arm, working 12 2/3 innings and recording two wins in his three appearances, posting a 2.13 ERA with seven strikeouts.
 
Last season, the Miners took three out of four from the Panthers in Rolla, winning the first two games of the series and the finale. All-time, DU leads the series 33-31.