Box Score ROLLA, Mo. - The Missouri S&T baseball team tried to overcome an 11-run deficit Sunday afternoon, but the rally fell short as the Miners dropped the final game of their weekend series with McKendree by the score of 16-12 at the Ballpark at S&T.

The Bearcats (17-26, 10-18 Great Lakes Valley Conference) jumped on Miner starter Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) in the first inning, as he allowed a leadoff triple to Joey Kossina and a hit to Noah Nelson that began the scoring for the day. After the single, Austin Francis doubled to left to score Nelson and Kyle Czarnecki followed with a deep blast off the center field wall and he came all the way around for an inside-the-park home run to make it 4-0.

S&T (19-19, 10-14 GLVC) got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Chase Burgess (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) led off with a walk, advanced to third on a Dakota Sill (Lansing, KS/Lansing) single to right and scored on a sacrifice fly by Doug Wood (Liberty, MO/Liberty North).

However, the Bearcats continued to stay on the accelerator, scoring four more in the second on a Katom Parnell grand slam and five in the third – aided by a couple of Miner errors in the inning -- to take a 13-2 lead.

The Miners did get single runs across in the second on a Nick Krodinger (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) RBI ground out and the third when Sam Monroe (Moline, Ill./Moline) reached base when Nelson was unable to keep the ball in front it trickled away, allowing Wood to score on the play. S&T then started working its way back into the contest, scoring four times in the fourth to cut the margin to 13-7.

The inning began with a Burgess double to right center and Sill exchanged spots with him on a double to left. Sill would score moments later on a wild pitch, then Monroe knocked in the last two runs of the inning when he ripped a single to right that scored Wood and Hampton. 
 
In the fifth, S&T added two more runs, the first scoring on a bases loaded single by Wood that scored Michael Hughes (St. Clair, MO/St. Clair), then Hampton drove in Burgess with a groundout to first. The Miners drew another run closer in the seventh when they tried a double steal with runners on the corners; Wood got caught in a rundown between first and second and stayed in it long enough to allow Sill to cross the plate.

After the first three innings, the Miner bullpen kept the Bearcats off the scoreboard until the eighth when McKendree added to its lead. A double by Brody Macak scored one run, then Elliott Wilk followed with a two-run home run to left to push the Bearcat lead to 16-10.

The Miners made one last push in the ninth, getting a run when Wood reached on an error to score Aaron Berkhoff (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain) and another on a wild pitch. S&T had two runners on base with two outs, but Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) grounded out to end the game.
 
Sill and Wood had three hits apiece and Wood finished the game with four runs batted in. The Miners were outhit 14-10 in the game as Gross took the loss. 
 
The Miners will host Missouri-St. Louis starting next Friday to begin a four-game series; Friday's single game will start at 2 p.m. to begin S&T's final home series of the season at the Ballpark at S&T.