UMSL Uses Late Rally to Win Second Game

Rivermen Earn Split of Doubleheader with Rockhurst

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL baseball team split a doubleheader with Rockhurst on Sunday afternoon. The Rivermen dropped the first game on a late-inning comeback by Rockhurt, but UMSL got two late inning comebacks in the second game to pull out the 9-8 win in the second game.

In the opener, UMSL had the lead early but lost the game in the late innings. The Rivermen got on the board in the fifth inning, getting RBI doubles from Tony Grana (Ballwin, Mo./Lafayette) and Logan Hughes (Walnut Shade, Mo./Branson), and RBI single from Bryan Weiss (St. Peters, Mo./Francis Howell North) for the first lead of the game. Rockhurst cut into the lead in the sixth with two run of their own to make it 3-2. UMSL added a run in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double from Doug Wiles (Farmington, Mo./Farmington) for a 4-2 lead going into the last inning. Rockhurst then came up with four big runs, three on a bases loaded triple by Josh Perkins for the 6-4 win in the first game.

The second game went into extra innings and saw a couple of UMSL comebacks late in the game. Each team scored a run in the opening inning, UMSL’s coming on an RBI double by Bryan Weiss. Rockhurst would grab the lead in the third with a single run, and add to it with two runs in the fourth for a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Scott Davis (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest) got an RBI double to make it a 4-2 game and pull UMSL closer. The Rivermen then took the lead in the fifth with three runs. Jim Reiter (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) had an RBI single to start the scoring and he then scored on a double by Bryan Weiss. Logan Hughes followed with another RBI double and UMSL regained the lead at 5-4 after five innings. In the top of the seventh, Rockhurst got a three run homer from Raymond Chang that gave the lead back to the Hawks at 7-5 going into the bottom of the last inning.

The Rivermen would rally and get an RBI single from Weiss to score Tony Grana, and Logan Hughes came through again with a double to score Weiss and tie the game at 7-7 and send it to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Rockhurst scored to take an 8-7 lead, setting the stage for yet another UMSL comeback. Mike Wulff (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles West) started the rally with a leadoff base hit to right. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk, Jim Reiter then hit a double to center to bring home the tying run and put runners on second and third. An intentional walk loaded the bases when Logan Hughes came through with a sacrifice fly to bring home the winning run as UMSL took the game 9-8.

Bryan Weiss had a big day at the plate for UMSL, going 6-for-8 with three runs and four RBIs in the two games. He also tied a school record with three doubles in the first game. Logan Hughes had two hits in each game, going 4-for-7 on the day with four RBIs and three doubles and Tony Grana went 3-for-8 and scored four runs on the day.

The Rivermen are now 18-5 on the season and will hit the road over the next week. UMSL will play at Southern Indiana on Wednesday and then face Kentucky Wesleyan for three conference games on the road next weekend.