ROLLA, Mo. – Lewis' baseball team overcame a four-run deficit to force extra innings but dropped the opener 5-4 in 11 innings at Missouri S&T on Saturday afternoon. The Miners then took the nightcap 5-2.
The Flyers fall to 8-13 on the season and 3-8 in the GLVC while S&T improves to 16-6, 9-2 GLVC.
"We played hard and competed well again today but unfortunately we just continue to come up short," Lewis head baseball coach
Tim McDonough said. "This team has great things ahead of them, I truly believe that. It's been a tough stretch of 21 straight road games to start the season and almost 5,000 miles of travel. It will be good to play at home next week."
Game 1 – Missouri S&T 5, Lewis 4 11 innings
The Miners scored four times on two hits and an error in the second inning. Will Hayes had the big blow in the inning hitting a two-run double to right center.
Lewis came right back scoring two in the third on RBI singles from
Anthony Cavalieri (Western Springs, Ill./Fenwick) and
Connor Rutherford (DePere, Wis./DePere) to cut the lead in half.
The score remained that way until the eighth. Rutherford led off the inning with a triple and scored on
Ryan Schefske's (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) sacrifice fly to right. The Flyers got the tying run in scoring position but
Austin Tittle (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) fouled out to left to end the inning.
Lewis tied the game thanks with an unearned run in the ninth. With two on and one out, Cavalieri reached on a throwing error as the Miners tried to turn a 5-4-3 double play to end the contest. The error allowed
Troy Hajdukovic (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) to score the tying run. The Flyers had a chance to take the lead but Schefske was retired on a 1-4-3 groundout to end the inning.
S&T loaded the bases with one out in the 10th but
Jake Lotz (Palos Hills, Ill./St. Laurence) retired on Drew Aldana on a foul out to first and got Hayes to fly out to right to end the inning. The Miners won the game in the 11th. Cameron Burk led off the inning with a double to right center, went to third on a sacrifice and scored on Matt Gruse's single down the left field line.
Lewis had nine hits in the contest led by Rutherford, Hajdukovic and
Brandon Post (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Elk Grove) with two each. Cavalieri,
Dalton Crowder (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East) and
Andrew Tenison (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) had a hit each. Lotz pitched the final 4.1 innings in relief allowing one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts to fall to 1-1.
Game 2 – Missouri S&T 5, Lewis 2
The Flyers jumped out to the early lead scoring two runs on two hits in the top of the third. Post led off the inning with a walk and scored on
Matt Verdun's (Homer Glen, Ill./St. Rita) triple down the left field line. Schefske drove in Verdun with a groundout to short.
S&T answered with three runs on three hits in its half of the third to take the lead. Connor Forsythe put the Miners ahead with a two-run single to short.
S&T tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings for insurance.
Post recorded two of Lewis' six hits in game two.
Brad Littleton (Coal City, Ill./) took the defeat allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts to fall to 1-2 on the season.
Lewis plays its home opener on Tuesday hosting Indianapolis in a single nine inning contest beginning at 2 p.m.
