KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Miners lost their first game in April today to the Bulldogs, 7-5. S&T was on an eight game win streak prior to today's game.
David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) was the starting pitcher today and would run into trouble in the first inning. After just two at bats, the Bulldogs got a runner in scoring position, bringing him home two at bats later with a 2 RBI homerun. Kephart would give up a single and a walk before closing the inning on a fly out to center field.
A walk for
Tyler Prince (Mexico, MO/Mexico) in the top of the second got the Miners their first baserunner of the game, but three consecutive strikeouts would leave him stranded on first. Kephart would get through the bottom of the second in just four batters for a much better inning than the first.
Denton Damgaard (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain HS) led off in the third and got the Miners their first hit of the day off a single to right field. He would find himself walking to home plate later in the inning when the Bulldogs pitcher walked three batters in a row. A fielder's choice RBI for Prince would bring home
Jack Bell (Andover, KS/Andover Central) in the next at bat to tie the game at 2-2 before the inning ended. The Miners would find more success at bat in the fourth, getting runs off a bases loaded walk and a fielder's choice RBI again to take a 4-2 lead.
A walk and a wild pitch in the fourth for Kephart would put the Bulldogs in position to bring another one home off a double, making it a 4-3 game heading into the fifth. The Miners scored a run for the third inning in a row off a single by
Logan Alexander (Olathe, KS/Olathe Northwest) in the top of the fifth, reclaiming a two run lead over Truman State.
In his final inning of the game, Kephart would only give up one hit and record his second strikeout of the day.
Elijah Gross (Lee's Summit, MO/Lee's Summit West) would pitch in the bottom of the sixth, giving up a single and a double before being replaced by
Ben Belgrave (Cary, IL/Cary-Grove) who struck the next two batters to end the inning. Belgrave wouldn't find the same success in the seventh as he did in the sixth though, giving up two hits and two runs as the Bulldogs tied the game at 5-all.
After another scoreless inning for the Miners in the top of the eighth,
Dylan Bates (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) took over pitching in the bottom of the inning. He would only last four at bats though, giving up two walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases with one out.
Jacob Cook (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka Community) came in to try and salvage the situation and would strikeout two of the next three batters, but a 2 RBI single by the second batter he faced allowed TSU to take their first lead since the third inning.
Sam Monroe (Moline, Ill./Moline) started the ninth off with a single but the next three batters were unable to get on base, leading to a 7-5 loss for S&T.
The loss went to Bates, giving him an 0-1 record. Damgaard had the best day at bat for the Miners, getting two hits in three at bats and scoring two runs.
The Miners will be on the road again next week with a trip to Lewis scheduled.
