The Missouri S&T baseball team will hold its annual open tryout on Saturday, June 21 at the S&T Baseball Field. The date was moved from its original date of June 7.

The tryout, which is for prospective players who have completed their senior year of high school play or two years at a junior college, will begin at noon at the Miners' home field. Those taking part in the tryout will need to bring proper equipment, including footwear, to the event and will also need to have proof of a physical taken within the last six months.

For more information, contact head coach Todd DeGraffenreid at (573) 341-7506 or at degraff@mst.edu.

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Thomas McCormick

Thomas McCormick's strong finish to the 2008 season and Yaimel Javier-Cury's steady play throughout the year has earned each of them recognition from the Great Lakes Valley Conference on its all-league team for the recently completed season.

McCormick, who broke the Missouri S&T single-season record for runs batted in with 46, was named to the All-GLVC first team as an outfielder while Javier-Cury, the Miners' leading hitter on the year and a force behind the plate, was selected as the third team catcher.

McCormick, a junior from Kingwood, Texas, hit .331 on the season with four home runs and 46 RBI. He had a stretch in April where he drove in at least one run in 10 consecutive games -- during which time he was named as the GLVC's "Player of the Week" -- and in 17 of 18 games. His offensive run coincided with the Miners' late season bid for spot in the GLVC Tournament that went all the way to the final weekend.

In addition, McCormick posted a team-best .531 slugging percentage -- he had 12 doubled and a team-high four triples -- and a .405 on-base percentage.

Javier-Cury led S&T with a .342 batting average and had 52 hits on the season, second only to the 53 posted by McCormick. He had 11 doubles, a home run and 27 runs batted in on the year while also throwing out 13 runners trying to steal.

The senior from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, recorded a .434 slugging percentage and .390 on-base percentage on the season.

The Miners finished the year at 22-26 overall and 15-17 in the GLVC.

2008 All-GLVC Baseball First Team
C: Seth Paul, Indianapolis
1B: Jeff Dillman, Bellarmine
2B: Patrick Brady, Bellarmine
3B: Ben Bartley, SIU Edwardsville
SS: Matt Reimer, Saint Joseph's
UT: Josh Huebner, Southern Indiana
DH: Braxton Graven, Bellarmine
OF: Thomas McCormick, Missouri S&T
OF: Shane Noble, Bellarmine
OF: Jake Shaffer, Northern Kentucky
OF: Matt Wille, Saint Joseph's
SP: Brandon Braboy, Indianapolis
SP: Blaine Cravens, Saint Joseph's
SP: Jeremy Kehrt, Southern Indiana
SP: Ryan Schmidt, Northern Kentucky
RP: Shaun Larsen, Southern Indiana

All-GLVC third team selection from Missouri S&T: Yaimel Javier-Cury, C

Player of the Year: Patrick Brady, 2B, Bellarmine
Pitcher of the Year: Blaine Cravens, Saint Joseph's
Freshman of the Year: Chris Saroff, 3B/P, Indianapolis
Coach of the Year: Deron Spink, Bellarmine

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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Playing its sixth game in the last four days, the Miner pitching staff was unable to slow down Southern Illinois Edwardsville's bats Sunday afternoon as the Cougars ended Missouri S&T's season with a 20-8 win.

SIUE scored in six of the eight innings in batted in and scored multiple runs in five of them, banging out 23 hits against four Miner hurlers used in the game.

The Cougars, who entered the game still in contention for a GLVC playoff spot, jumped on Miner starter Caleb Smith for three runs in the first inning, but the Miners tied the score in the second. A leadoff double by Thomas McCormick got things started, then he scored on a one-out single by Eaf Redden. After an SIUE error, Brandon Cogan delivered a sacrifice fly and Owen Madison, who had the go-ahead hit in Saturday's win, tied the score with an RBI single.

SIUE put seven runs on the board in the third to go up 10-3, but the Miners were able to trim that lead down with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

In the fourth, Madison drove in the first run with an RBI single, then a hit by Andrew Vance and a sacrifice fly by Gerad Fox brought the margin down to four.

S&T drew even closer in the fifth when Cogan doublhed home Redden and Yaimel Javier-Cury, but the Cougars got a single run in the bottom half of the inning and then scored three runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Cogan had two hits and three RBI to lead the Miner attack. S&T finished its season at 22-26 overall and 15-17 in the GLVC.

Posted by John Kean at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cody Bass

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- After seeing its own playoff hopes dashed earlier in the day, the Missouri S&T baseball team went about trying to ruin Southern Illinois Edwardsville's chances of making the Great Lakes Valley Tournament field by winning the second game of Saturday's doubleheader by the score of 11-10 at Roy Lee Field.

The Cougars eliminated the Miners from the playoff race with a 12-1 win in game one, but the Miners overcame a 7-1 deficit in the nightcap by batting around the SIUE bullpen in the late innings.

S&T trailed by that 7-1 count after five innings -- getting its only run to that point in the fourth when Zac Carter tripled and scored on Yaimel Javier-Cury's one-out single -- but saw its bats come to life in the sixth as it scored six times to tie the game and set up a wild finish.

The rally started when Thomas McCormick was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. After a hit by Javier-Cury, Eaf Redden was plunked by a pitch to load the bases. Cody Bass delivered a two-run single to knock out SIUE starter Nick Wooley, but the bullpen was unable to slow the Miners down.

Following a one-out walk to Owen Madison that loaded the bases again, Andrew Vance tripled into the alley in right center to clear the bases and cut the lead to 7-6. Moments later, Vance would score the tying run on Gerad Fox's opposite field single.

SIUE reclaimed the lead with two in the bottom of the inning, but the Miners tied it up again in the eighth when Madison singled home one run and the other scored on a bunt single by Fox.

The Cougars took the lead back in the last of the eighth when Daniel Thomson led off with a triple and came in on a hit by Michael Hopkins. However, the Miners took advantage of two SIUE errors and a pair of walks by reliever Daniel Bennett to get their first lead in the top of the ninth.

McCormick hit Bennett's first delivery up the middle for a single, then Javier-Cury hit a ball back to the mound -- but Bennett's throw went wide of second and both runners were safe. After a sacrifice bunt, the Cougars walked Cody Bass intentionally to load the bases. Brandon Cogan followed by hitting a chopper to third that Ben Bartley couldn't come up cleanly, allowing the tying run to score and keeping the bases loaded.

Madison put the Miners on top by lining a single over the outstretched glove of second baseman Josh Street to give S&T the 11-10 lead. Matt Lange pitched around a two-out walk in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the victory for Jordan Buck.

The Miners had 15 hits in game two, with Bass getting three of them and five others getting two apiece. Vance drove in three runs -- all on his triple -- while Fox, Bass and Madison drove in two apiece.

S&T took the early lead in game one when Fox singled, moved to second on a balk and scored on a hit by Carter. The Miners had a chance to extend the lead when they loaded the bases with one out in the third, but the Cougars escaped the jam without allowing a run and then scored three in the third, seven in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

Fox and Carter had two hits each for S&T, which had just six hits in the contest.

The Miners (22-25, 15-16 GLVC), who broke their school record for wins in a season with Saturday's victory, close the 2008 season Sunday with a single game against the Cougars at noon. SIUE currenly trails second place Drury by percentage points for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the GLVC West.

Posted by John Kean at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The middle innings proved to be the downfall for the Missouri S&T baseball team Friday night as Southern Illinois Edwardsville scored 10 runs in a three-inning span to win the opening game of the four-game series by the score of 10-6.

Friday's loss drops the Miners to 14-15 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play and means that S&T will have to win all three remaining games in the series to have any chance to qualify for the conference tournament. The Miners are currently two games behind both SIUE and Drury for the last guaranteed playoff spot in the GLVC West.

The Miners got out to a 4-0 lead after 4 1/2 innings, scoring twice in the first inning on a two-run homer by Zac Carter. S&T added to its lead with a run in the third when Thomas McCormick singled home Andrew Vance and again in the fifth when Carter and McCormick had back-to-back doubles.

However, the Cougars got on the scoreboard in the fifth when an error allowed the first run to score, then Cory Bunner's RBI single trimmed the lead to 4-2. SIUE took the lead an inning later when Steve Doll belted a three-run homer off S&T starter Matt Campbell.

After the Miners missed a scoring chance in the seventh when the first two hitters reached base, the Cougars broke the game open with a five-run seventh.

S&T got two runs in the ninth, the first coming when McCormick doubled in Gerad Fox to break the Miners' single-season RBI record with his 46th run batted in of the season. McCormick has driven in at least one run in in 17 of the Miners' last 18 games. He had three hits in the game as did Carter.

Yaimel Javier-Cury also drove in a run in the ninth with a double.

S&T and SIUE will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon, then wrap up the series with a single game on Sunday.

Posted by John Kean at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Missouri S&T baseball team got exactly what it needed Thursday in its effort to earn a spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament -- a doubleheader sweep over Missouri-St. Louis.

The Miners rallied from a four-run deficit in game one to take a 6-4 victory, then completed the sweep by holding off a late Triton rally for a 5-4 win.

With the sweep, the Miners moved into a tie for fourth place in the GLVC's West Division with Quincy, but are just a game and a half behind second place Drury for the final guaranteed playoff spot. S&T closes its conference slate with a four-game series starting Friday at SIU Edwardsville -- the team in third place in the division -- while Drury hosts division leader Southern Indiana and Quincy hosts Rockhurst over the weekend.

The Miners will need to win at least three of the four games at SIUE to have a chance to make it into the playoffs.

UMSL got two runs in the first inning and two more in the fourth to take the 4-0 lead, but the Miners took advantage of some sloppy defensive play by the Tritons to work its way back into the contest and eventually take the lead.

Cody Bass drove in the first two runs with a two-run double with two outs in the fourth, then Brandon Cogan reached on an error to keep the inning alive. Kyle Boehm followed with a hit past short to score Bass to cut the lead to 4-3.

Another UMSL error, this one on a ball hit by Zac Carter, got the Miners' go-ahead rally going in the fifth. Thomas McCormick doubled into the corner to chase home Carter, then he scored the run to put the Miners in front later in the inning on a hit by Yaimel Javier-Cury.

Andrew Vance's successful squeeze play in the sixth wrapped up the scoring.

David Birkby had a rough opening inning, but settled down to get through five and pick up the victory as he gave up just three hits. Kyle Griffin earned a six-out save and fanned three in the process.

S&T built its 5-1 lead in the nightcap with single runs in five of the first seven innings. The Miners grabbed the early advantage when Carter singled home Vance, then extended its lead to 2-0 in the third when Carter drove in Boehm on a sacrifice fly.

Boehm's RBI single in the fourth made it 3-0, then McCormick drove in a run in the fifth to give the Miners a four-run lead. After the Tritons got on the board in the sixth, the Miners got their four-run lead back on a sacrifice fly by Eaf Redden in the seventh.

UMSL got an unearned run in the eighth off reliever Danny Trenner, then got two off Brian Rickert in the ninth and had the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Rickert got Ryan Ayers on strikes and Steve Porter to fly out to end the game.

Boehm had three hits for the Tritons, while Carter drove in two for S&T. McCormick drove in a run in both games and has at least one RBI in 16 of the Miners' last 17 contests.

Posted by John Kean at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Posted by John Kean at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Missouri S&T baseball team split a doubleheader with Quincy University for the second day in succession at the S&T Baseball Field, winning game one by the score of 3-2 before the Hawks salvaged the nightcap and a split in the weekend series with a 9-6 win in 10 innings.

The split leaves the Miners 2 1/2 games behind Drury for the second and last guaranteed spot from the Great Lakes Valley Conference's West Division for the conference tournament heading into the final week of play. S&T closes its season with a four-game series next weekend at Southern Illinois Edwardsville and still has a doubleheader with Missouri-St. Louis to play if necessary.

In Sunday's first game, the Miners got all of their scoring done in the opening inning. With one out, Gerad Fox singled and came home on a triple by Zac Carter. Thomas McCormick followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Carter, then Eaf Redden belted a home run to give the Miners a 3-0 advantage.

The Hawks got on the board in the second when Adam Terstreip hit a leadoff homer off Brian Rickert, then got to within one by putting together a two-out rally in the sixth. Matt Campbell took over with the tying and go-ahead runs on base and got pinch-hitter Jake Schaake to fly out to end the inning.

Kyle Griffin got out of a jam in the top of the seventh to get the save, getting pinch-runner Tanner Jacobs at the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring.

S&T had five hits in game one. Rickert improved to 3-2 with the win as he struck out eight and allowed just five hits in 5 2/3 innings of work.

S&T had to battle back from an early 5-0 deficit in the second game and forced extra innings, but the Hawks tallied three runs in the tenth to get the win.

Quincy scored a run in the first and four in the third to build the 5-0 lead, then the Miners got a run in the bottom half of the third on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Vance. After Quincy got that run back in the fourth, the Miners cut the lead to 6-3 in the fifth on a two-run single by Cody Bass.

S&T drew to within one at 6-5 when McCormick delivered an RBI triple in the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Redden, then tied the game two innings later.

Redden led off the eighth with a hit and went all the way to third when the ball skipped past centerfielder Justin Ritchhart. Yaimel Javier-Cury followed with a hit up the middle to tie the game.

The Miners had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth as they got their leadoff man on and eventually loaded the bases, but Colt Johnson's liner was caught in center to end the inning.

Quincy took the lead in the tenth off reliever Alex Dunn on a run-scoring hit by Chris Scoggins, then got a two-run single from Terstreip later in the inning. The Miners were able to load the bases with two outs in their half of the inning, but Max McCorvie was able to retire Carter to end the game.

S&T had 14 hits in the nightcap, with Cogan and Bass getting three hits apiece and Fox and McCormick getting two each. McCormick drove in runs in both games and has now driven in a run in 13 of the Miners' last 14 contests.

The Miners will open the four-game set at SIUE Friday with a single game at 7 p.m.

Posted by John Kean at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Missouri S&T baseball team had to settle for a split of its doubleheader Saturday with Quincy in a battle of two teams trying to land a berth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at the S&T Baseball Field.

The Miners jumped out to a big early lead and won the opener 9-4, but couldn't hold on after getting the lead in the second contest as the Hawks used a five-run sixth to get a 9-8 win.

As a result, the Miners ended the day two games in back of Drury for the last guaranteed playoff spot out of the GLVC West and two behind SIU Edwardsville for third place.

S&T jumped out to a 7-0 lead in game one by scoring twice in the second and five times in the fourth as it sent 10 batters to the plate.

In the second, the Miners got their first run on an RBI double by Brandon Cogan, then he scored when Kyle Boehm reached on an infield hit and a subsequent error.

The Miners extended their lead two innings later when Cogan doubled in Eaf Redden, then Boehm followed with a two-run double to make it 5-0. The Miners got their sixth run when Gerad Fox executed a successful squeeze play and tacked on another run on a hit by Zac Carter.

Quincy cut the Miner lead to 7-4 with two runs in the fifth and single tallies in the sixth and seventh off winning pitcher Andrew Page, but the Miners added two insurance runs in the eighth on an another squeeze bunt off the bat of Redden and an error that allowed Thomas McCormick to score.

Page scattered 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings to get the win and Danny Trenner earned his first save with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

S&T banged out 19 hits in game one with everyone in the lineup getting a hit. Carter and Cogan had three hits apiece to lead the attack.

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in game two in the second inning before McCormick doubled and Yaimel Javier-Cury singled to get the Miners on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Quincy got two more runs in the third, only to see S&T get those runs back in the latter half of the frame on sacrifice flies by Fox and McCormick, who saw his streak of games with an RBI end at 10 in the opener.

S&T took the lead in the fifth by taking advantage of some sloppy defensive play by the Hawks to score four times. After a walk to Andrew Vance and a one-out hit by Carter, a wild pitch allowed Vance to score. McCormick followed with a hit and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third before Redden lofted a fly ball into right center that was dropped by centerfielder Justin Ritchhart, allowing both runners to score.

Javier-Cury then greeted reliever Jordan Backes with a double into the gap to bring in Redden and extend S&T's lead to three.

However, the Hawks came right back in the sixth and got the lead back after the Miners couldn't get the third out of the inning. Three straight walks started the inning, then Trenner entered the game and got a strikeout and a ground ball, but the Miners could only get the force at second.

Scott Hauber and Chris Scoggins followed with run-scoring hits that tied the score, then Joe Palumbo got a hit into the gap that led to two runs and a 9-7 Quincy lead.

S&T got one run back in the bottom of the inning when Boehm scored on a double by Cody Bass, but the Hawks got out of that inning and a jam in the seventh when the first two Miners were hit by pitches.

Javier-Cury had three hits and two runs batted in during the nightcap, while McCormick had two hits for S&T. Trenner took the loss in relief.

The Miners (18-21, 11-13 GLVC) will host the Hawks again Sunday in a twinbill that starts at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Miner baseball team went outside the Great Lakes Valley Conference for a day and came away with a split of its doubleheader against a former conference rival, as it beat Missouri Southern 13-3 in the first game before the Lions took the nightcap 6-3 at the S&T Baseball Field.

Missouri S&T spotted Southern a run in the opening inning, but scored in five of the six innings it batted in to produce the rout. The Miners got a run in the first on Thomas McCormick's RBI double that scored Zac Carter, then scored three in the second and four in the third to build an 8-3 lead after three innings.

In the second, the Miners got two runs thanks to a throwing error by Lion pitcher Ryan Estes, whose throw to third on a sacrifice bunt was wild and allowed Kyle Boehm and Brandon Cogan to score. Gerad Fox, whose bunt led to the error, later scored on a ground out by Cody Bass.

After Southern's Jeff Katchmar hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to cut the lead to one, another error on a bunt play led to the first Miner run in the bottom half of the inning. After McCormick and Eaf Redden reached base, Yaimel Javier-Cury's bunt was thrown away at first to allow McCormick to score.

Andrew Vance followed with a hit to score Redden, then Cogan drove in a run with a hit and Fox beat a throw at first to prevent a double play, allowing Vance to score the fourth run of the inning.

The Miners added a run in the fifth when Vance came in on a wild pitch and tacked on four more in the sixth.

Caleb Smith got his first collegiate victory by pitching into the fifth inning; Kyle Griffin threw the final 2 2/3 to preserve the win. Redden and Vance had three hits apiece as S&T recorded 13 hits in the first game.

The Miner bats, however, were silenced in game two by Southern's Chris Green and Jacob Garrison as they managed only three hits in the 6-3 loss. S&T scored a run without a hit in the opening inning as McCormick's sacrifice fly scored Fox, who walked to lead off the inning.

Southern scored two in the second to move back in front, then the Miners cut the margin in half when Drew Davenport scored on a passed ball. The Lions brought home three more, however, in the fifth to break the game open.

Colt Johnson had two of the Miners' three hits in the second game. Matt Lange took the loss for S&T.

McCormick drove in runs in both games -- getting them in the first inning each time -- to extend his string of games with at least one RBI to 10.

The Miners, 17-20 on the season, return to conference play Saturday when they open a four-game series against Quincy at noon. Fans attending Saturday's doubleheader will be able to get free pizza and soda between games courtesy of the S&T Corporate Club.

Posted by John Kean at 08:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thomas McCormick

Thomas McCormick's big week for the Missouri S&T baseball team has landed him the Great Lakes Valley Conference's "Player of the Week" award for the games played over the past week.

McCormick, a junior outfielder from Kingwood, Texas, hit .571 in six S&T contests -- four of which were won by the Miners -- with three home runs and 14 runs batted in. Six of his 12 hits on the week were for extra bases (two doubles and a triple were included) and he also scored seven times.

He was four-of-eight in a doubleheader sweep over Missouri-St. Louis on Tuesday, which included a game-winning two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of the 6-5 win. He followed that effort with a six-for-seven day Saturday at Drury as the Miners recorded another sweep.

On Saturday, McCormick hit two home runs and drove in five during the course of the 16-4 game one victory. He also drove in a run in the nightcap and then drove in two in each of Sunday's games against the Panthers, including his third home run of the weekend.

McCormick, who leads the Miners with 33 runs batted in on the season, has driven in at least one run in each of S&T's last eight games. He is hitting .311 on the season.

The Miners will play host to Missouri Southern in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday starting at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T baseball team saw its season-best five-game winning streak come to an end Sunday as Drury rallied in both games of the doubleheader to beat the Miners by scores of 3-2 and 5-3 at Meador Park.

Missouri S&T had leads of 2-0 in the opener and 3-0 in the nightcap, but saw the Panthers overcome both deficits in the latter stages of the game to move back in front of the Miners in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West standings. The Miners now stand at 10-12 in the GLVC heading into Wednesday's non-conference affair with Missouri Southern.

In game one, the Miners jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when Thomas McCormick followed Zac Carter's leadoff single with his third home run of the series. However, the Panthers tied the score in the fifth as Jason Hall hit a one-out homer off S&T pitcher Brian Rickert and Joe Rohlfing hit an inside the park home run with two outs.

Drury took the lead in the sixth when Tyler Goss doubled to open the inning and scored on a hit by Mike Tettamble. The Miners were able to get the tying run in scoring position in the seventh when Andrew Vance doubled with two outs, but Stephen Bloss struck out Gerad Fox to end the game.

Vance had two of the Miners' seven hits in the opener.

S&T got the advantage in game two as well by scoring twice in the third and again in the fifth to give Matt Campbell a 3-0 lead. Consecutive hits by Vance, Cody Bass and Carter loaded the bases, then McCormick delivered a sacrifice fly to put S&T in front. Eaf Redden followed with a single to give the Miners a 2-0 lead.

S&T extended its lead in the fifth on an RBI single by McCormick, the junior outfielder's 14th run batted in for the week and the eighth straight game in which he has driven in a run.

But just like in the first game, the Panthers were able to rally and it started in the bottom of the fifth when back-to-back doubles by Goss and Tettamble got them on the board.

Drury tied the game in the sixth and went ahead in the seventh on a home run by Daniel Mullis. The Panthers then added an insurance run in the eighth.

Carter had two of the Miners' nine hits in game two. Danny Trenner took the loss in relief for S&T in the nightcap.

Posted by John Kean at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Miner baseball team extended its winning streak to a season-high five games Saturday by sweeping defending Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament champion Drury -- and moving ahead of the Panthers in the race for one of the final spots in this year's tournament.

Missouri S&T blasted the Panthers 16-4 in the opener, then rallied from a 5-1 deficit by scoring six runs in the final two innings to complete the sweep with a 7-5 win.

The victories moved S&T into a tie for third place with Quincy in the GLVC West and also the sixth and final playoff spot at the moment in the conference. The Miners are tied with Quincy and Indianapolis for that spot following play on Saturday.

In the opener, the Miners had four multiple-run innings -- scoring at least three times in all of them -- and finished with season highs in both runs and hits (21). S&T took the lead in the second with the first of the multiple-run frames by scoring three times.

Eaf Redden's double scored Thomas McCormick, who had walked to open the inning, to put the Miners on top, then Yaimel Javier-Cury followed with an RBI single to put the Miners ahead 2-0. Later in the inning, Javier-Cury scored on a double by Andrew Vance.

The Miners answered a Drury run in the second with one in the third on a sacrifice fly by McCormick, then busted the game open with a five-run outburst in the fourth. McCormick's two-run homer was the big blow in the inning.

S&T added three more runs in the sixth and four in the ninth. McCormick and Redden hit back-to-back homers in the sixth and then the Miners scored the four runs on six hits in the ninth inning.

McCormick had four hits and five runs batted in to pace the Miners in game one, while Zac Carter, Redden and Vance had three hits apiece.

Andrew Page went the first six innings to earn the win, while Jordan Buck threw two scoreless innings and Alex Dunn pitched the ninth.

Drury got the jump on the Miners in the nightcap, scoring a run in the third and four in the fifth after S&T had tied the contest in the top half of the inning on Javier-Cury's leadoff homer.

The Miner rally started when Carter was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth and scored on a triple by McCormick. After Redden reached base when was plunked by a Chris Marston pitch, Javier-Cury brought home McCormick with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.

Justin Skinner took over on the mound for the Panthers to start the seventh, but ran into immediate trouble when he issued a leadoff walk to Vance. Gerad Fox followed with a single, then Cody Bass reached on an infield single that brought home Vance. A subsequent throwing error on the play allowed Fox to come around to score the tying run.

After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk to McCormick, who had a perfect day at the plate with six hits in six at-bats, Skinner threw a wild pitch to allow the go-ahead run to score. A passed ball moved McCormick to third and he came home on a sacrifice fly by Redden.

Danny Trenner, who came in the game with two outs in the sixth to get the Miners out of the inning, threw a perfect seventh to pick up the win in relief. Bass had three hits to lead the offensive attack for S&T (16-17, 10-10 GLVC), which will conclude the weekend series with a doubleheader Sunday at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thomas McCormick

One good thing led to another for the Missouri S&T baseball team Tuesday, 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 Saturday'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.

Posted by John Kean at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Danny Trenner

The Miners have had some bad luck lately in one-run games, but got one to go in their favor Wednesday 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 with UMSL with a 2 p.m. single game at the S&T Baseball Field. The Miners and Tritons will play a doubleheader Saturday and another single game Sunday to close the weekend set.

Posted by John Kean at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- After dropping a pair of games in Southern Indiana's final at-bat Saturday, the Missouri S&T baseball team was swept again by the Eagles Sunday as USI beat the Miners by scores of 7-6 and 4-1.

USI overcame a 6-3 deficit to win the opener, then jumped on the Miners in game two by scoring four times in the opening inning to complete the sweep of the Great Lakes Valley Conference series.

In the first game, the Miners got on Eagle starter Cory Julian for three runs in the opening inning. S&T loaded the bases on two walks and an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt to open the game, then Zac Carter went the other way for a double to drive in two. The Miners got their third run of the inning on an infield groundout off the bat of Yaimel Javier-Cury.

After getting on the board in the first, the Eagles took advantage of some sloppy play by the Miners to score twice in the second, as S&T had two errors in the frame with a balk thrown in as well. However, S&T answered by scoring three more in the third, a rally that started with a one-out double by Carter.

A throwing error on a ball hit by Eaf Redden -- as the Eagles were trying to cut down Carter at third -- allowed him to score, then Drew Davenport singled with two outs to bring in Redden. Louie Joseph kept the inning alive with a hit, then Brandon Cogan followed that with another single to score Davenport.

David Birkby carried that lead into the fifth, but USI loaded the bases right away on a bunt single, a walk and a hit batter. Chad Werry then cleared the bases with a triple to tie the contest and bring about a pitching change. Kyle Griffin retired the first two batters he faced, but Caleb Ehmke tripled to put the Eagles in front.

The Miners were able to get the tying run in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but were unable to come up with the game-tying hit off Shaun Larsen as he recorded three of his four outs with strikeouts.

Cogan had three hits for S&T in the opener and Carter had two with two runs batted in.

In game two, USI scored four times off Miner starter Matt Campbell in the first inning, then scored its fifth run in the fifth inning on Wes Fink's solo home run. S&T did turn three double plays in the second game, but couldn't get any offense generated to overcome the deficit.

The Miners, who were held to four hits by P.J. Thomas and Larsen, got their only tally in the fourth when Gerad Fox singled, stole second and scored on Thomas McCormick's hit.

The Miners (11-17, 5-10 GLVC) will face Rockhurst in a single game Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the S&T Baseball Field in a make-up contest from a March 30 rainout, then open a four-game home set with Missouri-St. Louis Friday with a 2 p.m. game.

Posted by John Kean at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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 (11-15, 5-8 GLVC) and Eagles will play another doubleheader Sunday to wrap up the series.

Posted by John Kean at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Matt Campbell

The Miners got more solid pitching Saturday and got better end results for it than on Friday, as they swept a doubleheader from Rockhurst at the Missouri S&T Baseball Field by scores of 1-0 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 and Hawks will wrap up their four-game weekend series with a single game Sunday starting at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 04:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Miners got a good pitching effort from starter Andrew Page Friday, 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.

S&T and Rockhurst (10-15, 4-5 GLVC) will play a doubleheader Saturday at noon, then conclude the series with a single game Sunday.

Posted by John Kean at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Zac Carter

After a ragged performance in the first game of a doubleheader that ended in a 4-1 loss to Harris-Stowe, the Missouri S&T baseball team used a big second inning and solid relief pitching to take a 7-5 victory in the nightcap to gain a split of the doubleheader.

The Miners scored six runs in the second inning to take a 6-1 lead in game two, then after the Hornets closed the gap to one in the third, S&T relievers David Birkby and Brian Rickert closed out the win by allowing just one hit and striking out six over the final four innings. Birkby was credited with the win and Rickert earned his second save of the season.

S&T's six-run rally started with two hit batters and a bloop single to load the bases with nobody out. Colt Johnson then hit a double off the fence in left center to bring home two runs to put S&T up 2-1. An groundout by Louie Joseph scored the third run of the inning, then Johnson was waved home on a balk by Hornet pitcher Jake Motta.

Later in the inning, after Andrew Vance walked and worked his way to third with a stolen base and a wild pitch, Zac Carter singled into center to score him. Carter would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Yaimel Javier-Cury to close the scoring in the second.

Harris-Stowe scored four times off starter Kyle Griffin in the third, but the Miners were able to hold the lead and tacked on an additional run in the fifth on another RBI hit by Carter.

Carter and Johnson had two hits and two runs batted in apiece in the second game as the Miners finished with nine hits.

In game one, the Miners jumped on top in the third when Thomas McCormick reached on a fielder's choice that scored Joseph. S&T had a chance for more in the inning as it had the bases loaded with one out, but a double play brought about by an interference call halted that chance.

Jordan Buck shut out the Hornets over the first four innings, but Harris-Stowe touched Matt Campbell for a run in the fifth on a two-out infield single, then took advantage of a throwing error that brought in the go-ahead runs in the sixth.

S&T had just four hits in the opener with Joseph getting two of the singles.

The Miners (9-12) will return to action Friday when they host Rockhurst in the opening game of a four-game weekend series at the S&T Baseball Field. Game time will be at 2 p.m.; the teams will also play a doubleheader Saturday and a single contest Sunday.

Posted by John Kean at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

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

Posted by John Kean at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thomas McCormick

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 (8-9) will host NKU (6-10) in another doubleheader Saturday starting at noon.

Posted by John Kean at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Posted by John Kean at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Miner baseball team spilt a doubleheader Friday with the University of Indianapolis at the S&T Baseball Field, as Andrew Page threw a complete game to lead Missouri S&T to a 5-3 victory in the opener before the Greyhounds won the nightcap 7-4.

The series, which was originally scheduled to be played in Indianapolis, was moved to Rolla due to field conditions in Indiana.

In game one, the Miners' answered Indianapolis' fourth inning run with a run of their own when Drew Davenport singled home Robby Martin with two outs. S&T took the lead in the sixth as Eaf Redden singled to score Gerad Fox, then Zac Carter added an RBI single later in the frame.

After UIndy's Chris Saroff tied the game with a two-run double in the seventh, the Miners put two runs on the board in the eighth on a two-run triple by Cody Bass to take a 5-3 lead. Page took care of things from there, retiring the final six batters in order to earn his first collegiate win.

Page scattered seven hits and struck out 10 in his complete game effort. The Miners had 13 hits in game one with Fox and Carter getting three apiece.

The Miners fell behind 4-0 after two innings in the nightcap, then cut the lead in half in the fourth when Yaimel Javier-Cury doubled home one run and Bass drove in another with a sacrifice fly.

Indianapolis regained its four-run lead by scoring twice in the fifth, then the Miners drew closer in the sixth as Carter brought in one with a sacrifice fly and Davenport delivered a run-scoring hit.

Javier-Cury had three of the Miners' eight hits in the second game. Caleb Smith took the loss for S&T.

The Miners and Greyhounds will play again Sunday at the S&T Baseball Field.

Posted by John Kean at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

FULTON, Mo. -- The Missouri S&T baseball team built a 9-1 lead after 6 1/2 innings Tuesday afternoon, but the bullpen couldn't prevent William Woods from overcoming that deficit as the Owls knocked off the Miners 11-9.

The Miners scored in the opening inning when Brandon Cogan drove in Gerad Fox with a ground out after Fox led off the game with a triple. S&T then extended the lead with a four-run third, which started after a leadoff walk to Andrew Vance.

Vance came around to score on an error, then Eaf Redden drove in Fox with a one-out single. Later in the frame, Zac Carter doubled to bring home two more runs.

After William Woods got a run in the sixth off Miner starter Brian Rickert, the Miners pushed the lead to 9-1 with another four-run outburst in the seventh. Consecutive one-out singles by Cogan, Redden and Yaimel Javier-Cury brought home the first run, then another two-out, two-run single by Carter made it 8-1. The Miners got their fourth run of the inning on a wild pitch.

After Rickert provided S&T six solid innings, the Miners called on the bullpen to hold the lead. However, the Owls cut into the lead when Ryan Dickerman hit a grand slam in the seventh to make it 9-5, then tallied six runs off three S&T hurlers in the eighth to overcome the deficit.

Javier-Cury had four of the Miners' 11 hits in the game, while Fox, Redden and Carter had two hits apiece. Carter had four runs batted in on the afternoon.

The Miners (5-6) return to action Saturday when they host Indianapolis in a doubleheader at the S&T Baseball Field. The weekend series with the Greyhounds was moved to Rolla from Indianapolis due to unplayable field conditions at UIndy.

Posted by John Kean at 08:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Former Missouri S&T pitcher Stephen Read has signed a contract to play in the 2008 season for the Traverse City Beach Bums of the Frontier League.

Read was 4-4 last season with a 3.72 earned run average for the Miners, striking out 52 batters and walking only 10 in 77 innings of work. He completed his S&T career last season among the career record holders for innings pitched (first with 234), strikeouts (second with 142), games pitched (third with 57) and earned run average (eighth at 4.93).

"We had the opportunity to see Steve throw at a tryout in Texas and we liked what we saw," said Jason Wuerfel, the Beach Bums' Director of Baseball Operations in a press release issued by the team. "He is a big, intimidating guy on the mound, throws a hard sinker in the upper 80s, and has a devastating split-finger. He has all the ability to be a very productive pitcher in the Frontier League and we are excited to bring him into camp."

The Frontier League consists of 12 teams including franchises in Sauget, Ill. and O'Fallon, Mo., and has five players who have played in that league on current Major League Baseball rosters.

Posted by John Kean at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Eaf Redden

The Missouri S&T baseball team got a solid pitching performance from Matt Campbell and a big offensive day from third baseman Eaf Redden to gain a split of its doubleheader with Pittsburg State Sunday at the S&T Baseball Field.

Campbell threw 6 1/3 strong innings to pick up the victory in the Miners' 4-3 first game win over the Gorillas, while Redden was five-of-seven on the afternoon and hits for the cycle over the course of the day in the twinbill split; Pitt State won game two by the score of 9-3.

Redden got the Miners on the board in the opening inning of game one, as he followed Cody Bass' one-out single with a double into the left field corner to score him. His other hit in the first game was a triple with one out in the third; he would score moments later on a sacrifice fly by Robby Martin to give the Miners a 4-0 lead.

In between all of that, the Miners got a two-run homer from second baseman Owen Madison to complete a two-out rally, as Drew Davenport had singled in front of him after the first two batters were retired.

Pitt State touched Campbell for a pair of runs in the fourth and a single tally in the fifth, but he took the lead into the seventh. After walking the leadoff hitter and getting an out on a sacrifice bunt, Kyle Griffin entered the game and saved it for him by getting a fly ball and a strikeout.

S&T got on the board first in game two as well, scoring twice in the third inning on a two-out double by Bass, an RBI single by Redden -- he would end up a third after a wild throw -- and another hit by Martin.

However, the Gorillas answered back with a seven-run fourth to take the lead for good off S&T starter Andrew Page. Taylor House's two-run single put PSU up 4-2 and the Gorillas would add three more runs in part to two Miner errors later in the inning.

Redden's leadoff homer in the sixth -- which completed his cycle in the doubleheader -- turned out to be the last Miner run of the day. Pitt State scored two runs in the seventh for the final margin.

The Miners (5-5), who also got two hits from Gerad Fox, will return to action Tuesday when they play William Woods in a single nine-inning contest at 3 p.m. in Fulton, Mo.

Posted by John Kean at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Miners' ninth inning rally fell short Saturday afternoon, as Pittsburg State held off Missouri S&T for a 10-8 win in the opening game of a three-game weekend series at the S&T Baseball Field.

Pitt State led 10-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the Miners scored four times and had the tying runs on base with one out before PSU closer Nate Templeton got a pair of strikeouts to squelch the Miner comeback effort.

The Miners were done in by a seven-run Pittsburg State fifth, aided greatly by three S&T errors.

After PSU broke on top in the opening inning, the Miners answered with two in the bottom half when Yaimel Javier-Cury delivered a two-out, two-run single to put S&T up 2-1. The Miners extended the lead in the second when Brandon Cogan doubled home Zac Carter, who had walked to open the frame.

S&T held onto that lead into the fifth, but the Gorillas touched Miner starter David Birkby for seven hits in the inning to knock him out of the game. Pitt State was able to add onto its lead when the Miner defense made three errors in an effort to get the third out of the inning.

The Gorillas tacked on a run in the seventh, then S&T got back on the board in the bottom half on an RBI ground out before PSU got a ninth inning run to make it 10-4.

Pinch-hitter Owen Madison opened the Miner ninth with a hit, then with one out, S&T got consecutive hits from Cogan, Thomas McCormick and Eaf Redden, followed by a walk to Cody Bass to load the bases. An error on a ball hit by Drew Davenport allowed two runs to score to make it 10-8, but Templeton got the next two hitters on strikes to end the game.

Gerad Fox, Cogan and Javier-Cury all had two hits apiece and McCormick drove in three runs for th