ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team opened a pivotal four-game series against Upper Iowa splitting a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon at the UMSL Baseball Field. The Peacocks took the opener 16-9 and the Tritons won the nightcap 7-5. UMSL is now 23-20, 12-14 GLVC while Upper Iowa is 17-22, 12-14 GLVC.
Game 2 – UMSL 7 Upper Iowa 5
The Peacocks took the early lead in the second game as JJ Vargas hit his third of four home runs in the doubleheader to lead off the second inning.
The Tritons rallied in the second taking advantage of a dropped foul ball to score four runs.
Barrett Rose walked, stole second and scored ahead of
Cade Grevengoed's two-run home run to left center.
Cooper Blythe singled to right and scored in front of
Braedon Stoakes' two-run home run to left to make it 4-1.
UMSL added three more in the third on a two-run double from Rose and an RBI single from
Garrett Strenger to extend the lead to 7-1.
Upper Iowa got a solo home run from Jared Grams and an RBI single from Ethan Sawyer in the fourth to cut the lead to 7-3. The Peacocks added a solo home run from Vargas in the sixth to pull within three and then leading off the seventh Gunnar Wicklund hit a solo home run to make it 7-5.
Upper Iowa brought the go-ahead run to the plate but
Cody Brooks retired Sage Stellmacher on a ground out to third to end the game.
The Tritons had seven hits in the contest and were led by Strenger with two while Blythe, Stoakes, Rose, Grevengoed and
Andrew Buescher had one apiece.
Trey Schneider earned the victory giving up three runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in four innings pitched to improve to 3-1. Brooks pitched the final 1.1 to earn his second save.
Game 1 – Upper Iowa 16 UMSL 9
The Peacocks scored three times in the first on a two-run home run from Wicklund and an RBI double from Grams. Upper Iowa added to its lead with four runs in the fourth highlighted by Wicklund's two-run double down the right field line.
UMSL got a two-run home run from
Mitch Bonczkowski with two out in the fourth but the Peacocks got a two-run home run from Vargas in the fifth to regain its seven-run lead.
The Tritons cut the deficit to 9-7 with five runs in the fifth inning.
Owen Polly hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and Stoakes followed with a three-run home run.
The Peacocks busted it open with a seven-run sixth inning. Grams hit a two-run single, Vargas hit a three-run homer and Paul Safranski hit a two-run home run down the left field line.
UMSL got RBI singles from Bonczkowski and Grevengoed in the seventh for the final margin.
The Tritons finished with 13 hits in the contest and were led by Polly, Stoakes, Bonczkowski and
Noah Tomaras with two each.
Dustin Hagens took the loss giving up five runs on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts in three-plus innings pitched to fall to 2-5.
UMSL and Upper Iowa conclude their four-game series with another doubleheader on Friday starting at noon at the UMSL Baseball Field.
