SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — In a back-and-forth contest that featured four lead changes and 27 combined runs, Drury baseball scored seven times in the sixth inning before holding off a late comeback bid by No. 9 Grand Valley State for a 14-13 victory Tuesday afternoon at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.

The Panthers (9-7) overcame an early three-run deficit thanks to third-inning home runs by Jackson Crider and Greydon Miller, then took control for good by scoring seven times before the Lakers could record a single out in the sixth, turning a 5-5 deadlock into a seven-run advantage. The two clubs combined for 26 hits to go along with 19 walks in the contest, but it was Drury's massive sixth-inning surge that proved the difference.

Miller finished 4-for-5 with five RBIs to pace Drury's offense, while Logan Reidelberger went 3-for-4 with a home run, four runs scored and three RBIs in extending his personal hit streak to 16 games.

Winners of their last 12 contests entering the game, the Lakers (15-2) wasted little time in jumping on the Panthers, plating three runs off DU starter Trayce Mercer in the top of the first. However, Drury's offense—which has been a model of consistency with eight games of 10-plus hits in its last 10 outings—found its rhythm in the third. Crider ignited a four-run outburst with his fourth home run of the season—a solo blast to left-center—followed shortly by a three-run moonshot from Miller that catapulted Drury into a 4-3 lead.

After the Lakers reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, Reidelberger tied it back up at 5-5 in the bottom half of the frame with a solo shot to right field, setting the stage for a decisive sixth inning.

In that rally, Crider brought home the first run with a long single to deep right-center field that gave the Panthers the lead, before Reidelberger coaxed a bases-loaded walk to make it a two-run game. Next, Connor Bain drove home two more runs with a double down the right-field line, and Miller added a run-scoring single to left, before Carter Wambach capped the scoring with a two-run double for a 12-5 Drury cushion.

But the Lakers refused to go quietly, clawing back with seven runs over the final three frames to keep the pressure on Drury's bullpen.

However, the Panthers' relief corps did enough to navigate the late-inning traffic, preserving the narrow lead and securing Drury's eighth win of the season. Coleman Morrison worked out of an eighth-inning jam by inducing back-to-back pop ups with the potential tying run in scoring position, then stranded the bases full of Lakers on a pair of strikeouts and a game-ending fly ball to deep left in the ninth, securing his first save as a Panther.

Evan Morrison turned in a 3-for-6 effort with a pair of RBIs to pace GVSU, while Caleb Estrada and Ayden Vanenkevort each added two hits and two RBIs for the Lakers.

The victory marked Drury's second win over a top 10 team this season, complementing the Panthers' 9-7 win over then-No. 2 Central Missouri on Feb. 10.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers will look to carry momentum into their Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) opening series this weekend. Drury begins a four-game set against Lewis on Friday (March 13), with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

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