KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — Drury baseball rode a complete-game mound effort from Anthony Vita to a 2-1 victory in game one of its Sunday doubleheader with Truman State, before the Bulldogs earned a series split with a 9-3 decision in the nightcap at Bulldog Baseball Park.
Vita tossed a three-hitter to lift the Panthers to the one-run victory in the opener, as Drury took the lead on a Greydon Miller two-out single in the top of the seventh. The Bulldogs bounced back in game two, building a 4-0 lead before plating the last five runs of the day after the Panthers had chiseled the margin down to a single run.
With each club earning a win in the twin bill, the Panthers (22-16, 13-7 GLVC) and Bulldogs (11-26, 5-19 GLVC) split their four-game set at two games apiece.
Connor Bain led the Drury offense, going 4-for-8 on the day with an RBI in each of the two contests, while Luke Matschiner added a pair of two-hit games and swiped his 24th and 25th bases of the year to move into fourth place on the Panthers' single-season steals chart.
Game 1 - Drury 2, Truman State 1 (7 inn.)
Miller's two-out single in the top of the seventh plated the go-ahead run, and Vita closed out the victory with his sixth-straight scoreless inning.
Vita (4-0) allowed a first-inning run, then slammed the door shut on a Bulldogs lineup that produced 24 runs in Saturday's contest, permitting just four baserunners in the seven-inning complete game -- his first as a Panther. The freshman left-hander struck out four hitters and retired 18 of the final 20 hitters, allowing just two singles after Truman leadoff hitter Nick Steurer doubled, stole third and came home on a sacrifice fly to knot the score at 1-1 in the home half of the first.
Drury jumped on top moments before that when Matschiner started the morning with a leadoff double, then stole second and third to set up Bain's sacrifice fly that put the Panthers in front, 1-0.
Truman starter Nick Phillips (1-7) matched Vita's effort over the ensuing five innings, working out of jams in the second and third to keep the game tied, then squashing a sixth-inning DU threat after Caleb Briggs'Â pinch-hit single generated another scoring chance for the Panthers.
But Drury cashed in an inning late, as Jackson Crider reached on an error to open the rally, moved to second on Logan Reidelberger's sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on Bain's grounder. Miller then lined Phillips' first offering into center for the deciding RBI single.
Game 2 - Truman State 9, Drury 3 (9 inn.)
Truman scored three times in the second inning and once more in the fourth to build a 4-0 advantage, then answered the Panthers' lone scoring rally by plating five unanswered runs over the last five frames to secure the series split.
Jack Pearson (2-0) held DU to three runs over the first five innings, before Hayden Holman blanked the Panthers on one hit over the last four to lock up the save.
Steurer paced the Truman attack, reaching base safely in three of his five trips to the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored. The Bulldogs notched the victory despite being outhit by the Panthers by 10-7 margin.Â
The Bulldogs plated three unearned runs in the second to open the scoring after a hit batsman, a passed ball and a Panther error fueled the early rally against DU starter Markell Dixon (0-5). Steurer, who produced the third Truman run in the inning with his sacrifice fly, drove in another run with an RBI-single in the fourth that extended the lead to 4-0.
Drury answered in the top of the fifth with its lone scoring rally, striking for three runs to trim the deficit to 4-3. With one out, Landon Willbrand drew a walk to start a string of six straight batters to reach base safely. Matschiner laid down a bunt single, before three-consecutive run-scoring hits from Crider, Reidelberger and Bain made it a one-run contest.
But Pearson avoided further damage and preserved the narrow lead by inducing a ground ball that resulted in a force out at the plate, followed by an inning-ending fly ball to right off the bat of Xander Schmitt.
From that point, Holman dispatched the first seven DU hitters he faced before working out of a tight spot in the eighth. By that time, Truman had expanded its lead to three runs with single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings. Tyler Tieman helped double that margin with his two-run double as part of the Bulldogs' three-run eighth that made it a 9-3 contest.
Dixon allowed just one earned run on three hits while fanning six Bulldogs over his 3 2/3 innings, while the trio of Matschiner (2-for-5), Crider (2-for-5) and Bain (2-for-5) accounted for six of Drury's 10 hits.
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LOOKING AHEAD
Drury returns to Mark Worley Field at Meador Park to open its final home stand of the season Friday (April 17), when they host Upper Iowa for a 5 p.m., game in the first of four GLVC contests with the Peacocks next weekend.
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