UMSL junior Clayton Stephens blasted his third home run of the season in Tritons’ 12-8 win over Drury on Tuesday.
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team got back on the winning track when it won Game 1 of a doubleheader, 12-8, over Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Drury, Tuesday afternoon at the UMSL Baseball Field. The Tritons weren’t able to sweep the twinbill though, as the Panthers won Game 2, 21-3.
Game 1 featured fireworks from both clubs, as the teams combined for 20 runs and 19 hits, including six home runs — three by each team — in a seven-inning matchup that lasted more than three hours.
Drury began the game with bang, scoring six runs in the top of the first inning, including a pair of two-run home runs by Aaron Mann and D.J. McNew. UMSL countered with a set of back-to-back home runs by junior centerfielder Carson Holin and sophomore first baseman Mitchel Becher in the bottom of the inning. The homers were both players’ firsts of the season.
UMSL held Drury scoreless in the top of the second, but then went on a rampage in the bottom half, scoring six runs on just two hits. The Tritons got three walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch to help the inning along.
The two hits were big ones though. First, sophomore Jacob Stoker smashed a bases-loaded single to left to make the score 6-3. Holin walked with the bases still loaded to make it 6-4. Then with junior left fielder Clayton Stephens at the plate and the bases still loaded, Drury pitcher Cade Waits threw a wild pitch, which allowed Brandon Pasley to score to pull UMSL to within one.
But the big blow was a big fly by Stephens that sailed way over the center field wall, for a three-run homer — his team-leading third of the season — to put the Tritons ahead 8-6.
Drury got a run to make it 8-7 in the top of the fourth. But UMSL put up four runs of its own in the bottom half, thanks to a two-run double by Stephens — giving him 5 RBIs on the day — and another two-run double by junior Josh Shoemaker.
McNew doubled home a run in the top of the sixth to make the score 12-8, but that was all the Panthers would get, as UMSL would close out the final two innings with no trouble.
A pair of freshman lefties got the win and the save for the Tritons. Jacob Mosher (1-1) pitched the middle three innings and allowed just one run on three hits with four strikeouts and four walks to get his first win got the win as a collegiate player, while Trent Anderson got his first college save by pitching the final three innings and allowing only one run on two hits.
Game 2 was all Drury, who scored at least one run in all but one inning and blasted five home runs, including a grand slam by Mann in the top of the seventh inning to close out the scoring.
Freshman Grant Bruntstetter (1-1) started the game for the Tritons and took the loss, as UMSL’s overall season record fell to 5-14.
The Tritons will be back in action this weekend, when the club will go on the road for a four-game set in Evansville, Ind., against Southern Indiana. UMSL’s next home game will come Friday, April 9, when it hosts the first of four against the University of Indianapolis.