Game 1 rally leads to Miner sweep

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – One good thing led to another for the Missouri S&T baseball team Tuesday, April 15 as a late inning rally in game one propelled a sweep of its Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader over Missouri-St. Louis at the S&T Baseball Field.

Thomas McCormick capped a two-out, two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run double to give the Miners a 6-5 win over the Tritons, then pitchers Brian Rickert and Danny Trenner combined on a two-hitter in the second game as S&T completed the sweep with a 5-1 victory.

The wins improved the Miners' GLVC record to 8-10 heading into a four-game weekend series against Drury in Springfield, as the Miners are one-half game in back of the Panthers heading into Friday's series opener.

S&T scored three unearned runs in the fourth inning of the opener to take the lead, taking advantage of two errors to get their three runs. The first two scored on a two-run single by Colt Johnson, then the second throwing error of the inning after a successful bunt by Andrew Vance allowed Johnson to come in to score.

However, UMSL's Mark Sanders tied the game in the fifth with a two-run homer, then the Tritons scored two more in the seventh to mave back into the lead.

The Miners cut the lead in half to open the eighth when McCormick led off with a double, Eaf Redden was hit by a pitch and Yaimel Javier-Cury singled to bring in McCormick. Johnson reached on a bunt single to load the bases, but Cody Bass lined into a double play and Redden was caught stealing on a double steal attempt to halt the threat.

UMSL pitcher Seth Cockrum retired the first two Miners with strikeouts in the ninth, but Louie Joseph was hit by a pitch to keep the inning going. Zac Carter singled off the glove of shortstop Andy Ford, then McCormick was able to foul off four full count pitches before lacing a double over the head of Sanders on the tenth pitch of the at-bat to bring in both runners to win the game.

Kyle Griffin got the win with two scoreless innings of relief. Johnson had three hits and McCormick two in the opener.

The Miners picked up where they left off in game two, jumping on starter Linds Prestia for two runs in the opening frame. Consecutive hits by Bass, Carter and McCormick put S&T in front, then Redden delivered a sacrifice fly to score Carter with the second run of the inning.

UMSL drew to within one in the third on an RBI double by Ryan Ayers, but the Miners answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning. After a walk to Gerad Fox and a double by Bass, the Tritons intentionally walked Carter to load the bases. A passed ball brought in a run, then McCormick singled home Bass to make it 4-1 and chase Prestia.

The Tritons threatened in the fourth as they were able to load the bases with two outs, but Trenner, who had just entered the game, got Ayers to hit into a fielder's choice to get out of the inning. From there, he retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced and the one he didn't reached base on a passed ball after a strikeout.

S&T added another run in the sixth on an RBI single by Vance that brought home Javier-Cury.

Bass and McCormick had two hits apiece in the nightcap; McCormick finished the day with four hits and four runs batted in. Trenner was credited with the victory in relief.

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S&T baseball wins make-up, 4-3

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – The Missouri S&T baseball team have had some bad luck lately in one-run games, but got one to go in their favor Wednesday, April 9 as they pulled out a 4-3 victory over Rockhurst at the S&T Baseball Field.

The victory came in a make-up game of a March 30 rainout and also allowed MIssouri S&T to win the season series over the Hawks as they took the last three games from them. It also puts the Miners into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division along with Rockhurst and Missouri-St. Louis, the team it will face this weekend in a four-game series.

S&T got off to a quick start Wednesday as it put three runs on the board in the opening inning. After the first batter was retired, Gerad Fox singled and Zac Carter reached on an error, then Thomas McCormick delivered a run-scoring double to put the Miners in front.

Eaf Redden followed with a two-run single to give starter Jordan Buck a three-run lead to work with.

However, the Hawks got to Buck in the fourth starting with a leadoff double by Tyler Rzepka. Following a walk to Jordan Myers, Rockhurst got four straight hits off the S&T hurler to tie the contest and bring about a pitching change.

Danny Trenner entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out, but got Dustin Ladyman to hit a ball right back to him to start a home-to-first double play and retired Tom Stevison on a pop fly to keep the game tied.

Trenner had to pitch out of another bases loaded jam in the sixth, but got Stevison again in that situation by getting him to hit into a force out.

The Miners then took the lead back for good in the bottom half of the inning with an error starting the rally. Drew Davenport reached on the miscue, then a one-out double by Yaimel Javier-Cury and a hit by Louie Joseph put S&T in front.

From there, relievers Matt Lange and Brian Rickert finished off the Hawks with Lange throwing two solid innings -- giving up just a two-out hit in the eighth -- and Rickert firing a perfect ninth to wrap up the Miners' sixth win in GLVC and 12th overall.

McCormick had two of the Miners' seven hits in the contest.

S&T (12-17, 6-10 GLVC) will open a four-game home series Friday, April 11 with UMSL with a 2 p.m. single game at the S&T Baseball Field. The Miners and Tritons will play a doubleheader Saturday, April 12 and another single game Sunday, April 13 to close the weekend set.

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Miner baseball drops two

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Southern Indiana used some late heroics to take a pair of extra inning games from the Missouri S&T baseball team Saturday, winning by scores of 2-1 in 12 innings and 4-3 in eight in the scheduled seven inning nightcap.

USI., which has beaten the Miners in its last at-bat four times in the last two seasons, got hits with the bases loaded in both games to bring home the winning runs. Caleb Ehmke's hit won game one for the West Division-leading Eagles, then Josh Huebner drove in two in the second contest to bring USI back from a deficit for the second time in as many innings.

S&T had a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, but Southern Indiana tied the score on Wes Fink's RBI single off reliever Matt Campbell. Jordan Buck, who threw two innings of scoreless relief in the opener, got the Miners out of the inning with a pop up and a fly out, but USI touched him for the winning runs after the Miners took the lead in the top of the eighth.

The Miners trailed 1-0 after two innings, but tied the score in the fourth on a leadoff double by Zac Carter, a sacrifice bunt and a run-scoring single by Robby Martin. S&T then grabbed the lead an inning later when Colt Johnson bunted his way on, moved to second when Cody Bass was hit by a pitch, then to third on a sacrifice bunt and home on Gerad Fox's RBI single.

After the Eagles tied the game up in the seventh, Yaimel Javier-Cury doubled to the opposite field to start the eighth. A walk to Martin followed, then Louie Joseph's reached while trying to bunt the runners over. Eaf Redden hit a sacrifice fly to put S&T up 3-2, but the Miners couldn't get any more runs out of the opportunity.

In the bottom half of the inning, a leadoff walk to Ehmke got things started for the Eagles, then the next two hitters reached on bunt singles to load the bases for Huebner. The USI leadoff hitter singled to center bring home two runs to allow the Eagles to complete the sweep.

Brian Rickert got the start for the Miners and gave up five hits. S&T had 10 hits with Fox and Johnson getting two hits apiece.

In the opener, the Miners fell behind in the fifth on Fink's RBI single with two outs, but tied the contest in the seventh when Thomas McCormick singled with one out and scored on Carter's two-out double to right center.

The Miners had scoring chances in the 10th and 11th innings, but a one-out single by Redden was erased by a double play in the 10th and then the Miners stranded two runners who reached base with nobody out in the 11th.

USI won the game in the 12th on Ehmke's bases loaded single with one out.

The Miners got strong pitching from Andrew Page, Danny Trenner and Buck over the first 11 innings, as they allowed just the one run on seven hits with 11 strikeouts. Page fanned eight in 6 2/3 innings of work.

The Miners are now 11-15 overall and 5-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

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More solid pitching for Miner baseball

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – The Missouri S&T baseball team got more solid pitching Saturday, March 29 and got better end results for it than the day before, as they swept a doubleheader from Rockhurst at the Missouri S&T Baseball Field by scores of 0 and 4-0.

S&T, which had dropped a 2-1 decision to the Hawks Friday, posted a doubleheader sweep where both wins were shutouts for the just the third time in school history. The Miners had pulled the feat off in 1969 and most recently in 1980 against Maryville University; they had never done it in a conference twinbill until Saturday.

Brian Rickert threw a complete game five-hitter in the opener, then Matt Campbell matched that performance in the second game to improve the Miners' mark to 11-13 overall and 5-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Rickert got the only run he would need in the opening inning when Yaimel Javier-Cury hit a sacrifice fly to score Andrew Vance with what turned out to be the only run of the contest. The senior hurler then worked his way out of a bases loaded, none out situation in the second.

Rickert got a ground ball that led to a force out at the plate for the first out, then fanned Nick Troilo and got Zack Troilo to ground out to third to escape the jam. Rockhurst also had two runners in scoring position in the fourth, but Rickert got a strikeout to get out of that inning.

The Miners had three hits in the first game.

In the second game, the Miners broke on top in the opening inning again. Vance drew a leadoff walk, went to third on a hit by Zac Carter and scored on a sacrifice fly by Thomas McCormick.

S&T added to its lead with runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Louie Joseph to score Brandon Cogan, the sixth when Robby Martin scored on a wild pitch after getting a leadoff double and in the eighth when Martin doubled again and came in to score on two balks by Hawk reliever Michael Bell.

Campbell, meanwhile, kept Rockhurst in check all afternoon as it had only one inning in which more than one runner reached base. In that instance, the Hawks tried a double steal that the Miners' snuffed out when Cory Coquillard was thrown out at the plate.

Campbell struck out five and also got errorless defense behind him, with the Miners making two double plays to escape trouble.

S&T had 10 hits in game two, with Carter, Javier-Cury and Martin getting two apiece.

The Miners got a good pitching effort from starter Andrew Page Friday, March 28 but couldn't generate enough offense to support his efforts as Rockhurst came away with a 2-1 win in the opening game of the four-game weekend series at the Missouri S&T Baseball Field.

Rockhurst got single runs in the third and seventh innings, which turned out to be all it would need. The Miners closed the gap to one in the ninth on an RBI hit by Yaimel Javier-Cury, but Hawk closer Frank Allen retired the next two hitters to secure the win.

The Hawks scored in the third on a double play with the bases loaded that brought in Nick Troilo, then Rick Pisani delivered a two-out to score Tyler Knust in the seventh.

Page left the game after the seventh after giving up nine hits but striking out eight. Kyle Griffin got the Miners out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the eighth and then stranded two more runners in the ninth as the Hawks left 15 runners on base in the game.

Thomas McCormick led off the ninth with a triple into the right field corner, then scored on a one-out hit by Javier-Cury. However, Allen got a pair of pop-ups to end the rally and send the Miners to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in GLVC play.

Javier-Cury and Drew Davenport had two hits apiece for the Miners, who had seven in the contest.

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Miner baseball swept by Norse

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – The Missouri S&T baseball team struggled for offense in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with Northern Kentucky, then couldn't recover from an early deficit in the second game as the Norse took both Great Lakes Valley Conference games by scores of 5-0 and 12-5 at the S&T Baseball Field.

After the teams played scoreless ball over the first four innings of the opener, the Norse broke through in the fifth against Miner starter David Birkby when Aaron Mentz hit a leadoff homer. NKU then knocked out the Miner starter an inning later after Kevin Dusold delivered a two-run double to make it 3-0.

The Norse would add another run in the inning and one in the seventh to back the four-hit pitching of Ryan Schmidt. Thomas McCormick had two of the Miners' four hits in game one.

In game two, the Norse scored in the first only to see the Miners answer in the bottom half of the frame on Yaimel Javier-Cury's sacrifice fly that scored Gerad Fox.

However, the Norse got a leadoff homer from Jon Back off S&T starter Matt Campbell in the third, then Jack Ambrose belted a three-run homer later in what turned out to be a five-run inning for the Norse to give them a 6-1 lead.

S&T cut into the lead with single runs in the third on a run-scoring triple by McCormick and in the fourth on an RBI double by Andrew Vance. But the Norse put the game away by putting four more runs on the board in the fifth, stringing together six hits in the frame to extend the lead to 10-3.

The Miners did get a leadoff homer from Zac Carter in the fifth and an RBI single from Vance in the eighth for their other two runs.

S&T had 13 hits in game two, with Vance and Louie Joseph getting three apiece and McCormick and Carter two each.

After suffering a one-sided defeat in the opening game of its weekend series with Northern Kentucky, the Missouri S&T baseball team rebounded in a big way to start game two and gain a split of Friday's doubleheader at the S&T Baseball Field.

The Miners took the nightcap 7-4, thanks to four runs batted in from Thomas McCormick and a solid relief outing from Brian Rickert, after NKU routed the Miners 15-3 in game one.

S&T spotted the Norse a run in the first inning of the second game, but got to Norse starter Dave Middendorf right off the bat by scoring five times in the first.

Gerad Fox and Zac Carter opened the game with back-to-back doubles to tie the game, then Yaimel Javier-Cury drove in a run with one out to put S&T in front. After Cody Bass was hit by a pitch, Brandon Cogan delivered an RBI double to make it 3-1.

McCormick followed with the first of his two run-scoring hits in the nightcap as he brought home Bass and Cogan with a hit to stake starter Caleb Smith with a 5-1 lead.

Smith, however, got into trouble in the second as he allowed a leadoff double and a pair of walks to load the bases. Rickert entered the game and after allowing an RBI single to Brett Hofmann, got out of the inning without allowing another run.

From that point, Rickert didn't allow another hit until the fifth, by which time the Miners had extended their lead to 7-2.

S&T got those runs in the third when McCormick singled home a pair of runs after the Norse had made two errors ahead of it to put the runners in scoring position.

NKU got one run back in the sixth and scored another with two outs in the seventh, but Kyle Griffin got the final out to preserve the win.

The Miners had nine hits in the second game with Fox, Javier-Cury and McCormick having two apiece. Rickert gave up just four hits and struck out three in his five innings of relief work to get the victory.

In the opener, the Norse jumped on S&T starter Andrew Page for two runs in the first and added four unearned tallies in the third, then scored five times in the fifth and four in the sixth.

The Miners got their first run in the fourth when McCormick doubled in Javier-Cury, then McCormick blasted a two-run homer in the sixth for the other two runs.

McCormick finished the day with seven runs batted in and went four-of-seven at the plate.

The Miners (8-11, 3-5 GLVC) will host Harris-Stowe in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, March 25 at the S&T Baseball Field before opening a four-game weekend series with Rockhurst Friday in Rolla.

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S&T baseball splits double-header

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

ROLLA – The Missouri S&T baseball team split another doubleheader Sunday with the University of Indianapolis at the S&T Baseball Field, holding off a pair of UIndy rally efforts in game one for a 7-5 win in the opener before the Greyhounds' Brandon Braboy blanked S&T on seven hits in a 3-0 win in game two.

The Miners broke on top in the first game with a pair of runs in the third, the first scoring on a wild pitch that allowed Gerad Fox to cross the plate. Later in the inning, Robby Martin delivered an RBI single to bring home Eaf Redden.

S&T extended its lead in the fourth when the Greyhounds committed two errors, the second of which allowed Cody Bass to come home. Indianapolis, however, cut into the lead in the bottom half of the inning when Ben Sondgeroth delivered a two-run single to make it 3-2.

The Miners answered that rally with a two-run fifth as Zac Carter and Bass each singled with two outs and came into score on a double by Drew Davenport.

Indianapolis came back with a pair of runs in the sixth when Seth Paul doubled home a run and later scored on a two-out single by Erik Rieker. Miner reliever Brian Rickert, who entered the game after the Paul double, struck out Dalan Dugger to get out of the inning and keep the Miners in the lead.

S&T tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh when Davenport singled home a run and Thomas McCormick brought in another with a fielder's choice.

David Birkby got the win for the Miners as he allowed just four hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. Rickert got the last five outs -- three on strikeouts -- for the save as he stranded the tying runs on base in the seventh.

In the nightcap, the Greyhounds scored two in the second off Miner starter Matt Campbell and added another run in the seventh, while Braboy kept S&T in check by pitching around three walks and seven hits to record the shutout.

The Miners lost a runner at the plate in the first, had a runner picked off in the second and hit into a double play in the fifth.

Campbell allowed seven hits and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings to take the loss.

The series, which was originally scheduled to be played in Indianapolis, was moved to Rolla due to field conditions in Indiana. Indianapolis served as the home team for all four games of the series.

S&T (7-8) will host Lincoln in a single game Wednesday at the S&T Baseball Field beginning at 2 p.m.

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Miner baseball opens with 1-3 road trip

By John Kean
S&T Sports Information

SEARCY, Ark. – The Missouri S&T baseball team had an offensive explosion in extra innings Sunday afternoon and as a result of its seven-run ninth inning, took the final game of the four-game series at Harding by the score of 9-2.

Harding won the opener 12-6.

The Miners had three leads in the opener, but surrendered seven runs in the bottom of the sixth. S&T had leads of 4-0, 5-4 and 6-5 before Harding's rally in the sixth.

In the second, the Miners got a leadoff hit from Eaf Redden, then after he stole second, Robby Martin delivered an RBI double to put S&T in front. Martin scored moments later on a hit by Yaimel Javier-Cury. Later in the inning, the Miners got a run on a successful squeeze bunt by Andrew Vance and an RBI hit by Louie Joseph.

Harding scored four off starter Caleb Smith in the bottom half of the frame, but Redden's RBI double in the fifth brought in Cody Bass to put the Miners back in front 5-4.

After Harding evened the score again in the fourth, the Miners got an unearned run in the fifth to get the lead back again. Back-to-back hits by Thomas McCormick and Redden started the inning, then a passed ball advanced the runners before Brandon Cogan's groundout scored McCormick.

But after the first batter was retired in the sixth, the Bisons rattled off six runs to get the victory with the go-ahead run scoring on Bo Whitaker's two-run single.

S&T had 10 hits in the game with Redden getting three and Martin and Javier-Cury two apiece. Jordan Buck took the loss for the Miners in relief.

In the nightcap, the Miners scored in the opening inning -- S&T scored first in all four games of the series -- on a hit by Redden to score Gerad Fox.

Miner tarter David Birkby shut out the Bisons into the fifth, when Harding got its first two hitters on base with bunt singles and those two scored on a two-out hit by Dare Saul.

The Miners answered in the sixth with a two-out rally of their own, as Martin doubled and came home when Javier-Cury singled through the left side of the infield to even the score at two.

Birkby kept the score at 2-2 through the eighth, then the Miners unloaded on Harding reliever Chris Kirkscey in the ninth for seven runs. A leadoff double by Javier-Cury got the rally started, then Cogan bunted his way on. An intentional walk to Zach Carter loaded the bases, but a wild pitch allowed Javier-Cury to score the go-ahead run.

McCormick followed the wild pitch with a two-run double to make it 4-2, then Fox tripled in a pair to double the Miner lead. The Miners would add three more runs after that on RBI hits by Bass and Martin and a sacrifice fly by Javier-Cury in his second plate appearance of the inning.

Birkby scattered seven hits and struck out five in his Miner debut to earn the win. The Miners had 14 hits on the offensive side with six different players getting two hits apiece.

The Miners (1-3) will be idle until Feb. 19 when they play at Missouri Southern.

Missouri S&T got its baseball season started Saturday on a down note, as Harding University swept a doubleheader from the Miners by scores of 7-3 and 5-2.

The Miners staked starter Brian Rickert to a 3-0 lead in the opener, but the Bisons tied the game in the bottom of the second and scored in three of the next four innings to record the win.

S&T scored twice in the opening inning, as Eaf Redden singled home Cody Bass for the first run and a wild pitch allowed Thomas McCormick to score. After Rickert retired Harding in order in the bottom of the first, the Miners got their third run on a squeeze play executed by Gerad Fox to score Yaimel Javier-Cury.

Harding scored three in the bottom of the second, then took the lead on Wisley Correa’s sacrifice fly in the third. The Bisons added a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

Rickert threw the first five innings and allowed seven hits with no walks and a strikeout. Kyle Griffin fanned one in the sixth and gave up two unearned runs in his one inning of work.

The Miners had eight hits in the opener with two coming off the bat of Bass.

In the nightcap, Missouri S&T scored first again when Redden singled home Brandon Cogan with two outs. However, the Bisons got three in the bottom half of the frame against S&T starter Andrew Page and added their other two runs in the third after the Miners had cut the lead to one.

S&T got its run in the third when Fox scored on a wild pitch.

Redden had two of the Miners’ six hits in the second game. Page gave up five hits but struck out five in the first four innings, while Matt Campbell allowed just one hit and fanned three in two innings.

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