ROLLA, Mo. – S&T Baseball split their doubleheader against Rockhurst today, winning the first 2-1 but dropping the second 9-8 after their comeback in the final inning came up short. Today was Senior Day at the Ballpark at S&T and the Miners recognized 12 Seniors in the pre-game ceremony.
Game 1: Miners 2, Hawks 1
As usual,
Dylan Mollett (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) started game one, getting a strikeout in the second at bat of the game and retiring three of the first four batters he faced.
Jack Bell (Andover, KS/Andover Central) led off the bottom of the first inning with a double down the left field line but would get caught stealing third two at bats later. With two outs on the board,
Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) hit a triple to center field and would score off an errant throw by the Hawks shortstop to give the Miners a 1-0 lead before the end of the first.
Mollett retired 10 of the next 12 batters he faced before Rockhurst got their first hit of the day in the top of the fifth. The Miners only recorded one hit of their own in that time, off a single by
Garrett Weiner (Alton, IL/Marquette) in the bottom of the third. Outside of the bottom of the third and the top of the fifth, neither team gained much traction offensively for the first six innings.
In the top of the seventh, a hit by pitch and an error allowed runners on first and second for the Hawks, with a sacrifice bunt advancing them to second and third. The visitors would score their first run of the day during the next at bat off a wild pitch.
With the score locked up at 1-all, the next two half innings were quiet, with only one player from either team reaching base. In the bottom of the eighth,
Logan Alexander (Olathe, KS/Olathe Northwest) led off with a single, followed by another one by
Carter Bither (Springfield, MO/Springfield Catholic) to put runners on first and second with no outs. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners before a sac fly by
Kenneth Sugi (North Vancouver, BC/Carson Graham Secondary) brough Alexander home, giving S&T a 2-1 lead. Mollett closed out the game by striking out three of five batters in the top of the ninth.
Game 2: Hawks 9, Miners 8 – (7 Inning)
Game two started with a stark contrast to the first game, with the Hawks getting three straight hits to open the game and take a 1-0 lead. They would tack on another two runs for a 3-0 advantage after the top of the first. A scoreless bottom of the first for S&T took the game in what would prove to be an unfortunate top of the second for the Miners. Starting pitcher
Ethan Morrow (Lenexa, KS/Shawnee Mission West) struck out the first batter he faced but do to a wild pitch on the batters' final pitch he was still able to take first base before S&T's catcher could retrieve the ball. An error, a single, and a couple of wild pitches allowed the Hawks to double their score and led to Morrow being replaced by
Jake Schisler (Quincy, IL/Quincy Notre Dame). The Hawks would add one more run to take a 7-1 lead before Schisler was able to send the game to the bottom of the inning.
S&T found their first hit and first run of the day in the bottom of the second off a solo home run by
Denton Damgaard (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain HS). The Hawks we respond by adding another two in the third though, stretching their lead to 9-1 and leading to
Matthew Kaiser (St. Louis, MO/Vianney) taking over pitching duties. Back-to-back singles for Weiner and
Tyler Prince (Mexico, MO/Mexico) in the third brought Sugi home. Weiner also reached home plate later in the inning off a Rockhurst error, making it a 9-3 game.
In the bottom of the fifth, with two outs and Prince on second,
Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) hit a triple to center field, bringing Prince home and recording his 16th RBI of the season. Ruether would cross home plate as well, off an error on RU during the next at bat, making it a 9-5 game.
Matt Ellingson (Lenexa, KS/Olathe Northwest) came in to pitch in the top of the sixth, walking the first two batters. After an error by the Miners allowed Rockhurst to load the bases, S&T brought in
Cody Hazzard (Mazon, IL/Yorkville Christian) to pitch with no outs. Hazzard was able to successfully close out the inning without giving up any runs with a trio of short fly balls the prevented the Hawk's runners from advancing.
Later, in the bottom of the seventh and still down by four, the Miners found themselves with bases loaded with no outs after two walks and a single. A wild pitch, a groundout RBI by
Sam Monroe (Moline, Ill./Moline), and a single by Bither brought three Miners runs home to cut the deficit to one. During the next at bat Bither stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position with only one out. A groundout by Bell advanced Bither to third by Sugi was unable to bring him home during the final at bat of the game.
Mollett pitched a full 9 inning game, giving up just 3 hits and 0 earned runs. He recorded 8 strikeouts and now has the fourth most career strikeouts in S&T history with 157 and the seventh most strikeouts in a season in program history with 61.
The Miners' record is now 23-21, with a 13-16 GLVC record. Tomorrow's doubleheader is set to begin at 10:00am.
