ST. CHARLES - Fourth-seed Truman unloaded a seven-run second inning on fifth-seed Drury and the Panthers never fully recovered, as the Bulldogs claimed a 9-5 victory in their NCAA-II Midwest Regional contest late Friday night at the Lou Brock Sports Complex.

As a result, the Panthers (32-23-1) will play an elimination game in a quick turnaround at 11 a.m. Saturday against top seed Quincy, which fell into the same situation with a 5-2 loss to No. 3 seed William Jewell early Friday evening. It will be a rematch of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament title game, where Drury defeated the top-seeded Hawks 7-2 last Sunday in Westfield, Ind.

Drury had its five-game, post-season winning streak snapped against one of its hottest pitchers. After hurling a scoreless first to push his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 12, the Bulldogs touched DU senior right-hander Austin Faulconer (7-6) for seven runs in the second inning, as the Panthers defense behind him didn't help the cause with a pair of errors leading to five of the runs being unearned.

Truman came up with six of its 12 hits in the frame, providing starting pitcher Kent Frantz (9-2) with an early 7-0 cushion.

Drury tried to chip away at the deficit, including two runs in the third (including a Bobby Lang RBI single) and three in the fifth on a Tyler Arthur bases-clearing double, but the hard-hit balls for the Panthers all night seemed to be right at a Bulldog, as Frantz and two relievers combined to keep DU off the scoreboard over the final four innings.

"We let it get away from us early," Drury coach Scott Nasby said. "We've been doing a great job of minimizing big innings, but not tonight. Truman pounded the ball against us, and you have to tip your cap to Dan and his team. 

"There aren't many scenarios in life where you get to say, 'we've got two shots at this,' and luckily for us, we have that opportunity. Knowing our club, they are not one to hang their heads when things don't go our way. We're looking forward to the chance tomorrow."
 

The Panthers matched Truman with 12 hits for the contest, including three each from Ryan Wadkins and Lang and two from Arthur.

Drury also got a strong effort out of the bullpen from freshman lefty Ryan Wedermyer, who struck out two, walked none and allowed just one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings.

Paul Trenhaile had three hits and Dave Gambino (three RBIs) and Brendan Trimble (two RBIs) had two hits each to lead the Bulldogs, who had split four games with the Panthers at Meador Park in their GLVC weekend series last month.

A victory by Drury vs. Quincy tomorrow morning would send the Panthers into a 7 p.m. game on Saturday as well.