EVANSVILLE, IND. – Senior Justin Busekrus and redshirt freshman Jose Ortiz each tallied three hits and two RBIs to help the University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team to an 11-4 win over Ashland in its season opener on Saturday as part of the Dunn Hospitality Classic, hosted by Southern Indiana.
 
The Tritons, which tallied 11 hits, also took advantage of six walks, including three to lead off man and catcher junior Nick Ulrey.
 
Busekrus put UMSL on the board in the first inning before two runs crossed the plate in the fourth, including an RBI single from freshman Matt Foster.
 
Ashland then scored twice in the fifth inning, recording just one hit, but taking advantage of a pair of Triton errors, and knotted the score in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on yet another UMSL error, but the Tritons would answer with eight more runs, four each in the sixth and seventh.
 
In the sixth, Jake Beckwith delivered an RBI bunt single, while junior Jake Daily drove in two runs with a single. An Ashland error also led to a third run scoring on that play.
 
In the seventh, Ortiz recorded a two-run single, while Beckwith had an RBI groundout and Busekrus a sac fly.
 
Junior Jake Renfrow picked up the win in relief, allowing just one run on one hit in three and one-thirds of an inning. He also struck out two and walked one.
 
Senior Kurt McGuire earned the start and was tagged with three unearned runs. He struck out three and walked two.
 
UMSL will face Saint Joseph's tomorrow at 1 p.m.