KIRKSVILLE - Drury rode a strong pitching performance from sophomore Trey Faulconer for a 6-1 win in the opener, then continued the hot hitting with an 11-5 triumph and a strong mound effort from Austin Simms in the nightcap for a Sunday sweep of its Great Lakes Valley conference doubleheader with Truman State.

The pair of victories gave the Panthers a split of the four-game GLVC series with the Bulldogs as Drury moved to 11-18 overall and 3-5 in the league. Truman fell to 12-17 and 4-4.

Faulconer, a transfer from Saint Louis University, allowed just five hits and the one run in his six innings of work in the seven-inning opener to pick up his first career DU victory (1-0). Drury broke out of a 1-all tie in the third when Justin Abernathy singled and later scored on Ryan Wadkins' single to make it 2-1, then pushed it to 6-1 with a four-run seventh.

Ryan Colombo had two hits and two RBIs for the Panthers, while Mason McCarville also had two hits and drove in a run as part of DU's eight-hit attack.

In the nine-inning nightcap, Drury scored two in the first, three in the fourth and three in the fifth to build a commanding 8-0 advantage. 

Freshman Ryan Kayhill went 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs to lead DU's 12-hit effort, while Colombo, Devyn O'Bryan and Christian Magno had two hits apiece.

Magno and Abernathy had three RBIs each, with Magno's two-run triple in the first getting the DU offense started and Abernathy knocking in a pair with a two-run single in the seventh.

Simms improved to 4-2 with eight innings of five-hit, one-run ball, striking out five and walking two before the DU bullpen gave up five runs to the Bulldogs in the ninth.

Kayhill went 5-for-8 with three runs and three RBIs on Sunday to complete a weekend in which he batted .750 (12 for 16) with six runs scored and five RBIs, raising his average from .193 to .315.

The Panthers had 30 runs and 47 hits in the four-game series, raising their team batting average from .250 to .263.

Drury will play host to William Jewell in a four-game GLVC set next weekend at the new U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, with noon doubleheaders both days. It marks the first-ever games in the refurbished facility, former home of the Ozark Mountain Ducks and now featuring a full artficial turf surface.