EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – After not playing for two weeks, the University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team made a triumphant return to the diamond sweeping its doubleheader against McKendree 11-6 in 10 innings and 9-2 on Sunday afternoon at Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex in Edwardsville, Ill. The Tritons improve to 5-4 on the season while the Bearcats drop to 0-6.
Game 1 UMSL 11 McKendree 6 (10 innings)
UMSL jumped out to the early lead scoring two runs on one hit in its half of the first inning.
Cooper Blythe scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and
Luke Saxton hit a sacrifice fly to center that brought home
Barrett Rose with the second run of the frame.
McKendree countered in its half of the first on a two-out three-run home run off the bat of Kaid Muth.
The score remained that way until the seventh.
Jake Isaacs stole third and scored when the catcher's throw went into left field to tie the contest. The Tritons retook the lead in the eighth on an RBI single off the bat of
Garrett Strenger scoring
Cade Grevengoed from second.
The Bearcats tied it in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run down the left field line off the bat of Noah Shuman.
UMSL went back in front in the ninth getting a two-run double to the gap in left center from
Andrew Buescher scoring Rose and
Braedon Stoakes to make it 6-4. McKendree got two doubles, a walk and a sac fly in its half of the ninth to tie it 6-all. The Bearcats had a chance to win the game with the bases loaded and one out but
Cody Brooks struck out the final two hitters to send the game to extra innings.
The Tritons scored five runs on one hit and an error in the 10th to retake the lead. Stoakes walked with the bases loaded to force in Grevengoed and Rose hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring Strenger.
Mitch Bonczkowski sealed the win hitting a pinch-hit three-run home run to left center to make it 11-6.
Brooks worked around a one out error in the 10th to pick up his second win of the season.
UMSL had five hits in the contest with Stoakes, Buescher, Bonczkowski, Grevengoed and Strenger having one each.
Zach Haygood got the start on the mound allowing four runs on three hits with four strikeouts in eight innings pitched.
Game 2 – UMSL 9 McKendree 2
The Tritons scored first again in the nightcap as Blythe led off the game with a double to center and scored on Saxton's single down the right field line. UMSL added two more in the third on Saxton's two-run bomb to left.
McKendree got its two runs in the home half of the third and had a chance for more but
Will Johnson got the final two outs of the inning to keep the Tritons in front.
UMSL got RBI singles from Saxton and Buescher in the fifth to extend its lead to 5-2 and put it away with a four-run seventh highlighted by
Noah Tomaras's bases clearing double to left center.
The Tritons had 13 hits in the nightcap and were led by Saxton with three while Buescher and
Dane Stevenson had two hits apiece. Johnson pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn his first win of the season and
Cale Willson pitched the final three innings to earn his first save.
UMSL returns to the diamond on Monday hosting Davenport in a doubleheader at Roy E. Lee Field at Simmons Baseball Complex in Edwardsville, Ill. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
