UMSL Wins GLVC Championship

Rivermen Defeat Quincy 8-4 in Championship Game

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL baseball team won the 2003 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship with an 8-4 victory of Quincy University on Sunday afternoon. The Rivermen won the school’s first-ever GLVC title since joining the conference.

Bobby Tiefenauer (Desloge, Mo./St. Francois County) pitched a complete game for the win for UMSL, going 9.0 innings and giving up four runs on 10 hits, struck out four and walked none to improve to 7-0 on the season. The offense came in spurts for the Rivermen, who got the early lead in the game. Logan Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson) had an RBI single in the first inning to score Bryan Weiss (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell North) for a 1-0 lead. Quincy came back with a run in the top of the second, but the Rivermen responded in the bottom half of the inning with two runs. Doug Wiles (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) had an RBI double to bring home the first run and then scored on an RBI single by Tony Grana (Ballwin, Mo./Lafayette) for a 3-1 UMSL lead. The Hawks would get a two-run homer from Chip Wagner in the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3 before the Rivermen offense took control.

UMSL threatened in the bottom of the fifth with bases loaded but failed to bring home the go ahead run before threatening again in the sixth and eventually taking the lead. Doug Wiles came through in the clutch for UMSL with an RBI single to bring home Colby Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson) and give the Rivermen a 4-3 lead. UMSL poured it on in the seventh with four runs to dampen any Quincy hopes of a comeback. Jason Barron (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood East) drew a bases loaded walk to bring home the first run of the inning and a wild pitch brought home the second run. After another walk loaded the bases, Scott Davis (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest) then roped a two-run single to left to give UMSL an 8-3 lead. The Hawks would add a single run in the eighth inning on back-to-back doubles, but Bobby Tiefenauer got a ground ball back to the mound to end the inning and then retired the side in order in the ninth for the 8-4 win.

It was the first GLVC title in any sport for UMSL since joining the conference back in the 1996-97 school year. The Rivermen also added to their already established school record for wins in a season, improving to 39-13 on the season. UMSL now awaits word from the NCAA regarding next weekend’s NCAA Regional Tournament.