ROLLA, Mo. – The Miners defeated the Wayne State Wildcats 5-2 today.
Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) drew the start, pitching for the first 7 innings, giving up 2 runs and 5 hits in that time.
Jacob Cook (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka Community) stepped up at a crucial point for the Miners late in the game and earned his first save of the season.
Mollett didn't allow a single hit in the first two innings, facing just six batters. The Miners went up on the scoreboard first, scoring two off a homer to left field by
Matt Souza (Escondido, CA/Christian) in the bottom of the third. Two outs into the third, Mollett would give up his first hit of the game on a single up the right side.
Wayne State would capitalize on a Miner throwing error in the top of the fifth, bringing home one off a single later in the inning to cut the deficit in half. A double and a single to start the top of the sixth put the Wildcats in position to tie the game on a sac fly to left field. Mollett closed out the top of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts to prevent anymore from getting home that inning. After two outs to start the top of the 7th, Mollett would allow two on base with a walk and a single to left field before closing out the inning on the next at bat.
WSC would send in Eli Crnkovich in the 7th. A single that just stayed on the fair side of the first base foul line, accompanied by a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Miners in the bottom of the 7th. With bases loaded and no outs, a groundout to shortstop would turn into a double play, while seemingly bringing Souza home. The umpire would call interference with the throw at second though, allowing the double play to stand and sending Souza back to third base, eliminating S&T's run. The Miners would not be denied though, scoring two off a single to short center by
Carter Bither (Springfield, MO/Springfield Catholic).
Kenneth Sugi (North Vancouver, BC/Carson Graham Secondary) would triple to deep left field next at bat to bring Bither home and give S&T a 5-2 lead.
Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) came in to pitch for the Miners at the start of the 8th but would get into trouble quickly. Gross gave up three straight hits and a walk but zero runs off a force out at second. With bases loaded and only one out, the Miners opted to bring in Cook, who abruptly ended the Wildcats momentum with two strikeouts to finish the inning. The Miners did not score in the top of the third, but it didn't matter as Cook put away all three batters in the top of the 9th to give S&T a 5-2 win.
The game resulted in a win for Mollett, who is now 2-0, and a save for Cook.
The Miners will be back at the Ballpark at S&T tomorrow for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
