Miners rally again to complete series sweep of Truman

Brandon Cogan

The Miner baseball team pulled off another comeback Sunday afternoon, rallying from a 3-1 deficit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to come away with a 5-4 win over Truman State to complete a sweep of the three-game weekend series.

Missouri S&T benefitted from some sloppy defensive play by Truman State for its first four runs, then got offensive contributions from two players who weren't in the starting lineup to get the game-winning run in the eighth.

The Bulldogs jumped on top with two runs in the first off S&T starter David Birkby, as Matt Over and Matt July each had a two-out single to drive in a run. The Miners cut the lead in half in the third, as two Truman errors put runners on second and third and Eaf Redden got S&T on the board with a sacrifice fly.

Truman extended its lead back to two in the fourth on an RBI double by Matt Bleish and carried that 3-1 lead into the seventh as starter Kyle Veazey set down the first two Miner hitters.

But after pinch-hitter Brandon Cogan bunted his way on with two outs, Gerad Fox doubled down the line in left to put runners on second and third. Veazey then hit Cody Bass with a pitch to load the bases and was replaced by Matt Herrick on the mound.

Thomas McCormick greeted Herrick with a hard-hit ball that went under the glove of second baseman Luke Crader, allowing two runs to score to tie the game. Eaf Redden followed that with an opposite field single to put the Miners up 4-3.

The Bulldogs tied the game off reliever Jordan Buck in the eighth when Kevin Zukaitis opened the inning with a hit and later scored on a ground out, but the Miners pushed the winning run across in the bottom half of the frame.

With one out, Robby Martin doubled into the gap in left center. After Zac Carter lined out to center, Cogan singled to left to bring in Martin, who was able to score easily when leftfielder Keaton Jones couldn't come up with the ball cleanly after the hit.

Buck pitched around a two-out double and a hit batter in the ninth to retire Kenny Swanson on a fly ball to right to secure the Miners' fourth straight win.

Cogan had two of the Miners' six hits in the contest.

S&T (4-3) is scheduled to return to action Tuesday when it hosts fifth-ranked Grand Valley State in a noon contest.