ST. LOUIS, MO. - The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team dropped both games of their doubleheader to visiting University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday despite scoring a total of 20 runs between the two games. The Tritons boasted a nine-run fifth inning in game one, but came up short, losing by a final score of 13-12. In game two, the offense still came through, but it was not enough, as the Tritons dropped game two by a final of 12-8.
GAME 1
Brady Krile got the start on the mound in game one for the Tritons (1-6), and despite striking out the side in the first inning, the Bulldogs (3-1) tacked on three runs in the opening frame.
The Tritons responded in the bottom half of the first.
Brandon Olion led off with a base hit, and
Matt DiMemmo came up, hitting his first home run of the year over the left field fence to make it a one-run ball game.
The Bulldogs would score again with a 2-out base hit in the second inning, extending their lead to 4-2. A Bulldogs two-run home run in the third inning knocked Krile out of the game, as Head Coach
Cory Wahl brought in
Trent Anderson. The Bulldogs could have put the game out of reach, as they threatened with the bases loaded, but Anderson worked out of the jam, limiting the damage and keeping the Bulldogs within striking distance with a score of 6-2 going into the bottom of the third inning.
In the top of the Fourth, the Tritons found themselves in another bases loaded jam, but shortstop
Leighton Keller snagged a line drive to leave all three baserunners stranded, again keeping the Bulldogs' lead at four.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tritons offense made their push. 20 Tritons came to the plate, scoring nine runs on three hits, while taking quality at-bats and working five walks in the frame. Keller had a single, knocking in two runs, while Olion drove in another with a base hit of his own. Olion finished with three hits in the game. The Tritons had the lead 11-6.
The Bulldogs answered in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four more runs of their own to bring the Tritons lead down to one.
The Bulldogs would complete their comeback in the seventh inning. The Tritons brought the infield in with one out and the bases loaded. A hot shot to short stop could not be handled, and the Bulldogs scored two, taking the lead. They tacked on an insurance run when a bases loaded walk made the score 13-11.
The Tritons made one last push in the bottom of the seventh, as
Clayton Stephens led off with a double, and came around to score on
Carson Steiner's first collegiate hit to make it a one-run game. The Tritons fell short, however, as the next two batters went down in order to end the game with a final of 13-12.
Krile got the loss, while striking out five in two innings. Olion finished with three hits in the game.
GAME 2
The Tritons got on the board first in this contest, with a lead off single by Olion, followed by a one out base hit by
Matt DiMemmo. The Tritons attempted the rare hit and run with two runners on, but Olion was caught stealing at third base while DiMemmo advanced to second base. A double off the bat of
Clayton Stephens drove in DiMemmo to give the Tritons the early 1-0 lead.
The Tritons tallied another run in the second, when a ball left the bat of
Ben Beier and went 430 feet over the center field fence for the first home run of Beier's collegiate career, giving the Tritons a two run lead.
Carson Holin scorched a double to left center field to lead off the bottom of the third, and advanced to third base on a single by Matt Dimemmo.
Clayton Stephens singled in Holin to extend the Tritons' lead to three. After advancing to third on a fly ball to left field off the bat of Mitch Green, Dimemmo would score on a bunt-base-hit by
Bryce Kulinski. A hot shot off the bat of
Ben Beier would result in an inning-ending double play, ending the Tritons offensive push in the third inning.
The Bulldogs came alive in the fourth inning.The Bulldogs lead off the fourth with a double to left followed by an infield single putting runners at first and second with no one out. A bloop hit to right forced the bases loaded, then a hit by pitch forced in the first run for the Bulldogs. A single would drive in two more, making it a one-run game with still no outs recorded in the fourth inning. Another infield single with the bases loaded tied the game, then a fielders' choice in which no out was recorded drove in the go ahead run, making the score 5-4. Another base hit would drive in two, forcing head coach
Cory Wahl to make a pitching change.
Wolfe Weeks would record two outs, but the Bulldogs would drive in five more.
Reece Kulick came to the mound to record the final out via the strikeout, stranding a runner in scoring position. But the damage was done, as the Bulldogs put up 12 runs on eight hits, heading into the bottom of the fourth leading 12-4.
Keller hit a one out double off the left field wall to get the Tritons going in the bottom of the fourth, followed by two walks and the Tritons found themselves threatening with bases loaded and two outs for
Clayton Stephens. The Senior would take full advantage of the situation, hitting a 400 foot grand slam over the left field fence to bring the Tritons right back in it, cutting the Bulldogs' lead in half to four.
In the Top of the fifth Inning, Kulick would work out of a jam, forcing the Bulldogs to strand a runner at third base.
In the sixth, a Bulldog reached on an error by the third baseman and getting all the way to third base on the errant throw, then score on a wild pitch, resulting in the Bulldogs 13th run of the game. The Bulldogs would tack on two more runs in the seventh inning.
Rose took the loss, throwing three innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, all of which came in the fourth inning other than one hit in the first inning.
Clayton Stephens finished the game with three hits and six RBI, while DiMemmo had two hits and scored three runs.
Up Next
The Tritons are back in action tomorrow to finish the series with Minnesota Duluth on the UMSL Baseball Field, first pitch of the nine-inning contest is at 12:00 p.m.
