SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball rallied for a 10-5 win against Wayne State (Mich.) for its first NCAA Tournament win since 1996 on Thursday afternoon at the UIS Baseball Field in Springfield, Ill. The Tritons improve to 34-20 while the Warriors drop to 37-15.
UMSL jumped on top in its first at-bat as
Mitch Bonczkowski launched a solo home run to left field with two out in the inning.
WSU sent 10 batters to the plate in its half of the first scoring four runs on two hits and four walks from
Eli Cartwright. Rhett Roeser drew a walk with the bases loaded to tie the game and then Bennett Hitzelberger scored on a wild pitch giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Tony Hatzigeorgiou followed with a single to right to make it 3-1 and Brayden Crowe drew a bases loaded walk to score the final run of the frame.
The Tritons got a solo home run from
Noah Tomaras with two out in the second to cut the lead in half and then in the fifth inning
Owen Faith hit a solo home run to left center to make it a one-run affair.
UMSL stranded the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh but tied it in the eighth as
Garrett Strenger hit a pinch hit sacrifice fly to center scoring
Cade Grevengoed with the tying run.
The Tritons sent 11 batters to the plate in the ninth inning scoring six runs on two hits and three errors. Bonczkowski drove in the go-ahead run with a single to left that scored
LJ Randle.
After a strikeout,
Bennett Cagle turned on a 3-1 pitch and hit it out to left center for a three-run home run to make it 8-4. With two out, and runners on the corner
Ethan Landis stole second and Grevengoed stole home to make it 9-4. On the play, the throw from second was high allowing Landis to get third and he scored on an obstruction play as he ran into the third baseman rounding third.
The Warriors got a solo home run from Brady Blakita with two out in the ninth for their final run of the contest.
Brandon Johnson came on with out in the second in relief of Cartwright and shut down Wayne State's offense giving up one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts to improve to 3-2 on the season.
UMSL had 10 hits in the contest and was led by Randle, Bonczkowski and Faith with two each.
The Tritons will play host and seconded Illinois Springfield in a winner's bracket game on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the UIS Baseball Field in Springfield, Ill. The Warriors will face UIndy in an elimination game at 11 a.m.
