Rivermen Win Twice at Central Missouri Tournament

UMSL Bats Come Alive, Winning 16-0 and 11-1

Warrensburg, Mo. – The UMSL baseball team saw their bats come alive in the first two games of the Central Missouri/Holiday Inn Express Tournament. The Rivermen beat Metro State 16-0 in their first game of the day and then defeated Panhandle State 11-1, improving UMSL’s record to 8-2 on the season.

In the first game, the Rivermen pounded out 16 runs on 13 hits in the win over Metro State. UMSL got four runs in the second inning, getting an RBI single from Doug Wiles and Tony Grana followed with a two-run single in the inning. Two more runs came across the plate in the next inning as Logan Hughes led off with a solo home run and Jason Barron knocked in a run with an RBI double. In the fifth, Colby Hughes cranked a two-run double and Wiles had his second RBI single of the game in that inning as well. The Rivermen then exploded for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a grand slam home run by Jim Reiter. Matt Kueny pitched 6.0 innings for the win, giving up no runs on seven hits and striking out four.

The second game featured more of the same, as the Rivermen blasted out six runs in the third inning to take early control of the game against Panhandle State. Logan Hughes knocked in two with a two-run double to provide the big hit of the inning. The Rivermen then added four more runs in the fifth inning as Tony Grana pounded out a two-run homer in that inning. In the sixth, Aaron Brown knocked in a run with an RBI single for an 11-0 UMSL lead. Panhandle State would ruin the shutout in the seventh, getting a single run in that inning for the 11-1 final score. Greg Bierling went 7.0 for the complete game win, giving up just one run on four hits and striking out eight while walking none.