MARION, Ill.  --  Missouri S&T Baseball enjoyed a bye through the first day of competition at the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and are now set to face #4 Drury in tomorrow morning's quarterfinal game.
 
About the Miners
The Miners earned the #1 seed in the GLVC tournament last week, clinching the regular season title with a doubleheader sweep of the Lincoln Blue Tigers. S&T went 25-7 in conference play during the regular season and will look to continue add to that record tomorrow. They played the Drury Panthers at the Drury Invitational back in late February, dropping that contest 17-6. The Miners' most recent series against the Panthers was last April, with the series ending in a split.

The Miners enter the GLVC Quarterfinals ranking 5th in conference stats for hitting (.327 hitting average) and third in pitching (5.69 team ERA). GLVC First Team pitchers Dylan Bates (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) and Dylan Wipf (Oak Park, IL/River Forest) have been key contributors to the team's success on the mound, with Bates going 9-1 as a starter this year. Drew Baugus' (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) .389 batting average against GLVC opponents is the best on the team, with the junior adding 40 runs and 21 stolen bases.

In regional standings, the Miners moved to #4 in the Midwest, landing behind Grand Valley State, Wayne State, and Illinois Springfield in the newest ranking by the NCAA.
 
About the Panthers
Drury defeated the Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars earlier today to secure their place in the GLVC Quarterfinals, defeating them 8-5. The Panthers had a solid season in-conference, going 22-10. They ended the regular season on a series split, defeating Southwest Baptist 16-7 and 10-3, but dropping a couple games by scores of 7-6 and 3-2.

The Panthers garnered six All-GLVC honorees. Starting pitchers Anthony Vita and Kaleb Thomas making first and second team, respectively, with the pair of pitchers hold ERAs of 4.22 and 5.58. Drury leads the GLVC in batting average, hitting .342 and being led by GLVC First Teamer Connor Bain who is hitting .416 (3rd-best in the GLVC).
 
What's Next
A win will advance the Miners to tomorrow's semifinal game of the tournament where they would await the winner of game six. A loss would lead to the team playing a second game on Thursday, where they would face the loser of game six.
 
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