UMSL Comeback Falls Short at SIUE

Rivermen Fall to Cougars 7-6

Edwardsville, Ill. – The UMSL baseball team came up one run short in a late-inning comeback at SIU Edwardsville on Wednesday afternoon. The Rivermen trailed 7-3 going into the ninth inning and scored three runs, but left bases loaded and lost 7-6 to the Cougars.

Both teams scored two runs in the third inning for the first runs of the game. UMSL got on the board with an RBI hit by Doug Wiles (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) that scored Scott Davis (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest). Wiles then came around to score on a steal of home for UMSL's two runs. SIUE would answer with two runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-2. The Rivermen then took the lead in the fourth with a solo home run off the bat of Jason Barron (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood East), his team-best sixth of the year. The Cougars answered right back in the bottom of the inning, scoring two unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead after four.

The score remained 4-3 into the eighth inning when SIUE extended their lead, scoring three runs in the inning to take a 7-3 lead. Those three runs would prove big as UMSL would answer in the ninth with three runs of their own, but feel one run short in the comeback bid. Tony Grana (Ballwin, Mo./Lafayette) started the scoring in the ninth for UMSL with a two-run double that scored Doug Wiles and Scott Davis. Jason Barron then came up with bases loaded and was hit by a pitch, bringing home Grana and making it a 7-6 game with bases loaded before SIUE closed out the game with a strikeout to seal the win.

UMSL falls to 28-11 on the season and 16-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Despite the loss, the Rivermen still hold a five-game lead over the rest of the conference as Indianapolis and Wisconsin-Parkside each of 10 losses on the season, with nine conference games remaining for UMSL.