ROLLA, Mo. – The Miners took down the Peacocks 16-6 in the eighth by run-rule, giving them a series sweep.
Tommy Ruether (Washington, MO/Washington) got his 100th career hit in the top of the first with a two-RBI single to left field.
David Kephart (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest) drew the start today and had a strong first two innings, only giving up one hit and facing seven batters in that time. The Miners jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first, with three hits and three walks contributing to them scoring four runs. They would add another three runs in the bottom of the second, with hits by
Kenneth Sugi (North Vancouver, BC/Carson Graham Secondary) and
Matt Souza (Escondido, CA/Christian) helping them extend their lead to 7-0.
The Peacocks got into a rhythm at the plate in the third, getting seven hits and scoring five runs to cut the Miners lead to just two. The bottom of the third saw UIU's third pitcher of the game take the mound and he would fair better than his predecessors, only giving up one hit. After a scoreless top of the fourth for Upper Iowa the Miners added another run after a walk and a wild pitch put Sugi in position to score off a double by
Nick Krodinger (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto).
Ben Belgrave (Cary, IL/Cary-Grove) took over for Kephart in the top of the fifth and would only face ten batters in the next three innings, only giving up one run and one hit in that span. The Miners capitalized on poor Upper Iowa pitching in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs, two of which came off a single by
Sam Monroe (Moline, Ill./Moline).
A single by
Carter Bither (Springfield, MO/Springfield Catholic) in the sixth and one by
Denton Damgaard (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain HS) in the seventh brought in one more run apiece, bringing the score to 13-6 entering the eighth. Eli Gross took over pitching duties, retiring three straight to send the game to the bottom of the eighth. A triple by
Jack Bell (Andover, KS/Andover Central) brought the first run of the inning home, put the Miners two away from ending it in a run-rule. Two at bats later, a single by
Michael Streb (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) would bring Bell home put the Miners a run away from the win. A fielders choice out at second left the Miners with runners on first and third with two outs. Krodinger came up to bat and got the base hit needed to bring home the deciding run and end the game.
The win went to Belgrave for his efforts in the fifth through seventh innings, giving him a 2-1 record this season. The Miners best offensive player of the day was Krodinger with 3 hits and 5 RBIs in the 5 at bats.
The Miners record now improves to 19-15 this season with a 9-11 GLVC record. They will only have away games the next two weeks with series against Truman State and Lewis.
