OZARK, Mo.- The Drury Panthers dominated the University of Missouri-St. Louis for an 18-0 win in game one, but lost game two 7-4 as both teams opened their Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule on Saturday at U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark.
 
In game one, Austin Simms fired a complete game shutout and struck out a career-high 11 batters as Drury put up 18 runs on 17 hits in an 18-0 win. Panthers OF Ryan Kayhill doubled twice going 3 for 4 with two runs scored and a run batted while in SS Ethan Owens went 3 for 5 with a run and three RBI's.
 
"Simms was spinning for strikes early in the count," said Drury head coach Scott Nasby. "He was getting ahead of hitters and did a perfect job in executing our game plan."
 
The Panthers had a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning of game two and were a strike away from getting out of a bases-loaded jam, but UMSL OF Derek Freeman hit a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam that gave the Tritons a 5-2 lead. UMSL added two more runs an inning later on a two-out single by Josh Shoemaker that put the game out of reach.
 
Avery Jennings went 2 for 4 with a run scored to lead Drury at the plate.
 
"We had the opposite happen in game two in that we didn't execute off-speed pitches," said Nasby. "As a result, (Freeman) got a fastball to hit. So it's a one-swing difference – we popped an inning earlier with the bases loaded, and they hit a grand slam. We lost by three, and that's the difference." 
 
Drury ended the day 9-14 and 1-1 in the GLVC. UMSL moved their record to 8-12 and 1-1 in the league.
 
The two teams continue their series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at noon at U.S. Baseball Park.
 
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