ROLLA, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T baseball team closed out its four-game series against Rockhurst in emphatic fashion Sunday afternoon, rolling to a 16–6 victory and setting a new program record with their 11th consecutive win. It is the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division II this season.
Missouri S&T broke the game open early with a six-run second inning, collecting 7 hits and two stolen bases in the inning. RBI hits from Nick Hooper (Grain Valley, MO/Grain Valley), Nick Krodinger (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto), Bricen Smith (Perry, GA/Mount de Sales Academy), Denton Damgaard (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain HS), and Garrett Meyer (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) highlighted the rally and gave S&T a cushion it would continue to build throughout the afternoon.
Missouri S&T and Rockhurst each added runs in the third, with the Miners' coming after a double by Cory Chostner (Columbia, MO/Hickman). S&T extended the lead further in the fourth inning on Scott's RBI single and Smith's bases-clearing triple to stretch the advantage to double digits at 11-1.
In the sixth, another triple by Smith helped S&T make it a 13-2 game, but Rockhurst mounted its biggest push in the seventh inning with four runs to prevent the mercy rule in the top of the inning. However, the Miners answered immediately with three more in the bottom half to secure mercy rule victory and finish off the series finale in commanding fashion.
On the mound, Logan Slinkard (Affton, MO/Lutheran South) turned in a steady outing to earn the win, improving to 4–2 on the season. He worked six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits while keeping Rockhurst from building any sustained momentum through the middle innings. The bullpen combination of Drew Timp (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) and Jack Manninen (River Falls, WI/River Falls) closed out the contest in the seventh.
Smith delivered one of the most impactful performances of the season, finishing 3-for-5 with seven RBIs, including a pair of triples that played a key role in the victory. Keaton Scott (Hannibal, MO/Hannibal) was equally impressive at the plate, going a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
What's Next
The Miners now carry momentum forward as they continue Great Lakes Valley Conference play with road games at Southwest Baptist Thursday through Saturday next week.
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