UMSL Splits with Indianapolis

Bierling Sets School Record for Career Wins

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL baseball team split a doubleheader at Indianapolis on Friday, losing the first game 2-1, and getting a 7-4 win in the second game, as Greg Bierling (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) picked up the win to record career win number 21 and set a new school record for most career victories.

Bierling went 7.1 innings in the second game, giving up four runs and struck out four to get the win, and in doing so became UMSL’s all-time career wins leader while improving to 5-0 this season. Bierling now has 21 career victories, passing UMSL Hall of Famer Andy Runzi (1991-93) who previously held the career win mark.

Indianapolis got on the board in the top of the first inning of that second game with a single run. UMSL responded with two runs in the top of the second, the first coming on an RBI single by Aaron Brown (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North) and Scott Davis (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest) followed with an RBI double for a 2-1 UMSL lead. The Greyhounds would come back and tie the game with a run in the third before UMSL grabbed the lead again in the fifth. Davis led off the inning with a triple and came home to score on an RBI single by Scott Miller (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh). Miller then scored on a Bryan Weiss (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell North) grounder, giving UMSL a 4-2 lead. Indianapolis would score again in the bottom half of the inning to make it a one-run game at 4-3 before the Rivermen tacked on single runs in the next three innings to stake their claim to the lead. In the sixth, Davis had a sacrifice fly that scored Scott Sanders (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North), and Sanders then had an RBI single in the seventh that scored Logan Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson) for a 6-3 lead. In the eighth, Jim Reiter (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) singled home Miller for another UMSL run and a 7-3 lead. The Greyhounds would then add a run in the eighth and had bases loaded with one out when Todd Katz (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) and Colby Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson) came in to pitch and got consecutive batters out to end the inning and preserve the 7-4 UMSL win.

In the first game, both starting pitchers battled it out in a close game before Indianapolis prevailed 2-1. UMSL starter Kevin Sahrmann (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) suffered the loss to fall to 3-3 on the year, going 6.0 innings and giving up just five hits and two walks on the day. Indianapolis starter Blake Wyatt also got the complete game, giving up nine UMSL hits and walking none. After a scoreless first four innings of play, UMSL got on the board in the top of the fifth. Jim Reiter, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate in the first game, had an RBI single with two outs that brought home Scott Davis for the first run of the game and a 1-0 UMSL lead. Indianapolis responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead at 2-1, and both pitchers failed to allow a run after that as the Greyhounds came away with the win.

Scott Sanders went 4-for-7 in the two games, scoring two runs and knocking in one, and Scott Davis went 3-for-6 on the day with two runs scored and two RBIs. UMSL is now 27-9 on the season and 15-4 in the GLVC. The Rivermen are still in first place in the conference as well, with Indianapolis in second place at 15-8 in conference play. The same two teams will meet again on Saturday for another doubleheader, with the first game counting as a conference game and the second a non-conference game.