UMSL Sweeps Quincy in Two, One-Run Games

Rivermen Wins Streak Reaches Five Games

St. Louis, Mo. - The UMSL baseball team ran their winning streak to five games with a doubleheader sweep of Quincy University on Thursday afternoon. The 11th-ranked Rivermen scored in the first inning of the first game and held on for the win, and exploded with an eight-run inning in game two and held on for a 9-8 win.

In the opener, UMSL got a leadoff hit by Tony Grana (Ballwin, Mo./Lafayette) who then scored on an RBI single by Bryan Weiss (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell North) for a 1-0 lead. That was the only run support needed by UMSL starter Kevin Sahrmann (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell), who went the distance for the complete game shutout. Sahrmann went 7.0 innings, giving up six hits and struck out two while improving his record to 3-2 on the season. UMSL did shut down a Quincy rally in the sixth with a big defensive play at the plate to help secure the win. The Hawks had a runner on second and got a base hit to leftcenter, but UMSL centerfielder Jim Reiter (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) fielded the ball bare handed and hit cutoff man Bryan Weiss, who fired a bullet to catcher Doug Wiles (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) to get the runner at the plate and hold the Hawks scoreless.

The second game was a wild affair, that saw UMSL jump out to a 9-0 lead thanks to five Quincy errors, and then saw Quincy battle back to within a run before UMSL closed it out for the 9-8 win. The game was scoreless going into the fourth inning before UMSL lit up the scoreboard. The inning started with a fielding error by Quincy, allowing Jim Reiter to reach base and then score on a double by Bryan Weiss, who later scored on a double by Jason Barron (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood East). With bases loaded and one out, UMSL then got another gift on a dropped fly ball to rightfield, allowing another run to score before Tony Grana cleared the bases with a three-run triple. Reiter then came to bat for the second time in the inning and hit a deep fly ball to right for his second homer of the season and an 8-0 UMSL lead.

The Rivermen would add a run in the fifth as Jason Barron reached on an error, stole second and scored on a double by Colby Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson) for a 9-0 UMSL lead. The Hawks fought back beginning in the sixth inning. Quincy got a two-run homer from Wayne Astrauskas and a two-run double by Andy Tappe to cut it to a 9-4 lead. The Hawks then added a single run in the seventh and three more in the eighth inning before the Rivermen closed out the game. The eighth inning ended on a huge play up the middle by the UMSL defense. The Hawks had runners on the corners and got an apparent base hit up the middle, but UMSL shortstop Bryan Weiss fielded the ball behind second base and made a rolling flip to Tony Grana for the force out at second to end the inning and prevent the tying run from scoring. Greg Bierling (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) closed out the game, getting the last out of the eighth and the first three batters out in order in the ninth, including the last two outs on strikeouts, to pick up his first save of the season. UMSL starter Steven McCoy (Potosi, Mo./Potosi) picked up the win, going 6.0 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and struck out three while improving his record to 2-0 on the year.

UMSL improves to 23-6 on the season and 11-3 in the GLVC while still holding on to first place in the conference. The 11th-ranked Rivermen have now won five straight games and will be at home this weekend for a three-game series with Northern Kentucky.