SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Drury baseball rode big innings by its offense to edge Lewis in both ends of its Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.
The Panthers, who erased an early 2-0 deficit in Friday's 8-7 series opening victory, rallied for two runs in the fifth inning to overcome the Flyers for an eventual 6-3 decision in game one. Trailing by three runs in the late innings of game two, the Panthers put six runs on the board in the sixth inning en route to a 12-7 win.
Connor Bain led Drury with five total hits on the afternoon, going 3-for-3 in the opener, and Greydon Miller added a 4-for-7 afternoon and four total RBIs. Landon Willbrand came through for DU in game two with a 3-for-4 effort that included his fourth home run of the season and four RBIs.
Game 1 - Drury 6, Lewis 3
The Panthers rallied from a 3-2 deficit, scoring a pair of fifth-inning runs on Miller's two-out double, then relied on its bullpen to close down their second-straight win over the Flyers. Coleman Morrison (2-1) tossed 5.0 strong innings to open the contest, before Hayden Linton worked two hitless frames to wrap up his first save as a Panther.
Miller, who led the Panthers with a 2-for-3 day and three RBIs, delivered the biggest blow of the contest after Bain kept the Drury rally going in the fifth with a two-out hit, driving a double to left to chase home two baserunners for a 4-3 Panthers lead.
In the home half of the sixth, Drury stretched its advantage to three runs after a two-out Lewis miscue allowed Luke Matschiner to reach safely after Flyer reliever Ben Catrambone struck the DU right-fielder out for what appeared to be the third out. But an error on the LU first baseman on the attempted putout at first gave the Panthers new life. Jackson Crider cashed in for Drury, lining a run-scoring single to left, before a passed ball allowed a second unearned run to cross the plate for a 6-3 DU cushion.
Linton worked around a two-out walk in the sixth by inducing an inning-ending grounder, before striking out a pair of Flyers as part of a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Bain paced the Drury attack with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate, while Logan Reidelberger went 1-for-4 to extend his hit streak to 18 games.
Game 2 - Drury 12, Lewis 7
Despite finding themselves in three-run holes on multiple occasions over the first four innings, the Panthers gashed Lewis pitching for 16 hits, including five in their six-run sixth in which they sent 12 men to the plate to seize control for good.
In all, seven different Panthers recorded multi-hit efforts, led by Willbrand's three hits. Miller also played a key role once again, this time delivering a clutch two-out double to tie the game at 7-7 and open the offensive floodgates for the Panthers in the critical sixth inning.
DU wasted no time in jumping on top, as Luke Matschiner belted a leadoff homer to stake the Panthers to a 1-0 lead.
Lewis responded in the third, thanks to a two-out rally that handed them a 4-1 lead in the span of just two plate appearances. Chris Daugherty recorded a two-run double off DU starter Nick Panagos, before the next hitter, Jayden Gonzalez, launched a two-run homer to left.
Drury would start its comeback in the home half of the third on Reidelberger's run-scoring ground out, followed by an RBI-single by Bain to make it a one-run affair.
But the Flyers answered with a two-spot in the fourth, thanks once again to the duo of Daugherty and Gonzalez. A second run-scoring double by Daugherty in as many innings accounted for the first run of the inning, before Gonzalez's bouncer to second brought home another for a 6-3 Lewis lead.
The Panthers (12-7, 3-0 GLVC) scratched out a run in the bottom of the fourth, then evened it up at 6-6 on run-scoring hits by Willbrand and Carter Wambach.
After Lewis (5-14, 0-3 GLVC) pushed a run across in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead, Drury went to work, starting with Crider's leadoff single to open the bottom half of the inning. Catrambone retired the next two DU hitters, but Miller came through with the game-tying double, and a wild pitch allowed Reidelberger to trot home with the go-ahead run.
From there, Wambach doubled home a run, before Willbrand lifted a 2-0 offering over the wall in left for a three-run shot and a 12-7 DU lead.
Making his first mound appearance of the season, Jacob House (1-0) earned the victory with 1.0 inning of relief, before sophomore lefty Porter Slattery closed out the win with a scoreless seventh inning.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers and Flyers will conclude their series Sunday with a single nine-inning contest, now scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., at Mark Worley Field.
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