JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T baseball team ventured outside the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tuesday and dropped an 8-5 decision to Lincoln University.
The Blue Tigers jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 8-1, then held off the Miners' late inning rally as S&T left five runners on base in the final two innings after closing the gap to three.
Lincoln scored twice in the opening inning off starter Caleb Smith, getting an RBI triple from Justin Holliday and a run-scoring hit from Daniel Struemph to take the lead.
LU tacked on four more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run double by Struemph, to extend its lead to 6-0.
Drew Davenport's sacrifice fly in the sixth got the Miners on the scoreboard, but back-to-back homers by Holliday and Struemph in the bottom of the frame pushed the Lincoln advantage to 8-1. Holliday's homer allowed him to complete the cycle, as he singled and doubled after tripling in the opening inning.
S&T loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, then Thomas McCormick cleared the bases with a double. The Miner rightfielder drove in a run for the 13th time in the last 14 games and now has 41 RBI on the season, four shy of the school's single-season record.
Eaf Redden followed the McCormick double with one of his own to trim the lead to three, but he was stranded at second to end the inning. The Miners loaded the bases again in the eighth and got their first two hitters on base in the ninth, but couldn't push another run across.
Redden had three hits for the Miners while McCormick and Louie Joseph had two apiece; the trio combined for seven of the Miners' nine hits.
Smith threw the first seven innings for the Miners to help save the pitching staff for the upcoming glut of conference games that begin Thursday when S&T hosts Missouri-St. Louis in a make-up doubleheader at 1 p.m.
The Miners (19-23) close the regular season with a four-game series at SIU Edwardsville beginning on Friday. S&T enters this stretch 2 1/2 games behind Drury for the second and last guaranteed playoff spot from the GLVC West.
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