ROLLA, Mo. – After dropping the first game of its weekend series with Truman State on Friday, Missouri S&T's baseball team took both ends of Saturday's doubleheader on a breezy day at the Ballpark at S&T. The Miners routed the Bulldogs 18-5 in game, then completed the sweep with a 4-2 victory in the nightcap.
Game 1 - Miners 18, Truman State 5
Truman (12-16, 2-9 GLVC) scored three times off S&T starter
Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) in the first inning, but it was all Miners after that as they evened the series with the first game win.
After the Bulldogs got their three runs, the bottom half of the inning started with
Chase Burgess (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) being hit by a pitch and he later scored on a two-out single from
Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) to get S&T on the board.
With runners on the corners, S&T executed a double steal as Ruether broke for second and
Cole Hampton (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) scored when the throw went to second. Moments later,
Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) reached on an error by Tal Dean at shortstop that scored Reuther to tie the game.
S&T (13-15, 4-11 GLVC) took the lead in the second when
Sam Monroe (Moline, Ill./Moline) led off the inning with a solo homer to left center – which would be the only home run on the afternoon even with the brisk winds blowing out. Later in the second,
Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) made it 5-3 with an RBI single to left that scored Burgess.
The Miners plated two more runs in the third, the first coming when Monroe legged out a double play ball to score Ruether, then
Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair) followed with an RBI double to left center.
S&T answered a Truman run in the fourth in the bottom of the inning with three more tallies, the first coming on an RBI ground out by Weiner that brought in
Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North). Ruether would later score on a wild pitch by Bulldogs reliever Tucker Olson and Hughes brought in the third run of the frame with an RBI single to right to give S&T a 10-4 lead.
Truman got a run in the fifth as well, but the Miners blew the game open with eight runs in the sixth, with the big blows of the inning being a two-run double by Burgess and a bases-clearing triple by Weiner after the left fielder fell while trying to make a sliding catch.
The Miners had six different players record two hits each as they outhit the Bulldogs 13-11, while Weiner had a team-high four RBI and Hughes knocked in three. Morrow secured his second win of the season with a five-inning outing where he struck out six batters.
Game 2 - Miners 4, Truman State 2
All the scoring in game two came in the third inning after the first two innings were quiet offensively.
In the Truman half of the third, S&T starter
Estin McBroom (Monett, MO/Monett) found trouble immediately after he allowed a lead-off triple to Dean. Luke Turner followed with a chopper to third to score Dean as catcher
Matt Souza (Escondido, CA/Christian) was unable to hang onto
Cole Hampton's (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) throw as the ball arrived just as Dean did to the plate. Holden Missey followed with an RBI double to right that scored Turner to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
But in the bottom of the frame, S&T erupted for a four-run inning that started started with a
Aaron Berkhoff (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain) single that the Bulldogs couldn't track down in the wind. Souza drew a walk, then Burgess singled through the hole to bring home Berkhoff.
Sill tied the game with a sacrifice fly, then after a double by Hampton, Ruether ripped a two-run single through the right side of the infield that scored Hampton and Burgess to give S&T the lead.
McBroom pitching around some trouble in the fourth, but got Turner to fly out with two runners on to get of the inning. Truman also got two runners on base in the sixth, but
Nate Kemp (O'Fallon, MO/St. Dominic) entered the game and retired Dylan Thompson on a fly ball to left to escape that jam.
Matthew Kaiser (St. Louis, MO/Vianney) took over in the seventh and struck out the side to pick up the save.
Each team has six hits in game two; Weiner had two of the six. McBroom pitched five innings and struck out six batters to get the win.
The series will conclude Sunday with a single game at noon at the Ballpark at S&T.
