McClure
Terry Griffin
7
Upper Iowa UIU 15-21
13
Winner Drury DRURY 23-16
Upper Iowa UIU
15-21
7
Final
13
Drury DRURY
23-16
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Upper Iowa UIU 3 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 8 1
Drury DRURY 3 2 0 1 0 6 1 0 X 13 16 3

W: Thomas, Kaleb (6-1) L: Brett Nicodemus (0-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Eric Doennig, Associate AD - Media Relations

McClure, Bain Power Panthers to Series-Opening Win Over Upper Iowa

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Drury baseball used a 16-hit barrage to rally from an early three-run deficit and knock off Upper Iowa 13-7 in the opening game of the two clubs' Great Lakes Valley Conference series Friday afternoon on Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.

The Panthers' duo of Connor Bain (4-for-5) and Colin McClure (3-for-3) provided the heavy lifting for the Drury offense, combining for seven hits while scoring five runs and driving in four more to fuel the DU comeback effort. The tandem combined to reach base safely in nine of 10 plate appearances, while Carter Wambach provided a lift at the plate as well, driving in three runs as part of his 2-for-4 day.

On the mound, Drury starting pitcher Kaleb Thomas (6-1) rebounded from a sluggish opening inning by permitting just five hits over the next 5 1/3 frames. In all, the right-hander scattered seven runs on eight hits, while striking out six hitters and working into the seventh inning. 

Drury (23-16, 14-7 GLVC) wiped out an early 3-0 Upper Iowa lead by scoring three times in the home half of the first, before plating two more in the second to build a 5-3 lead. Bain opened the scoring for DU with a two-out, RBI-double to put the Panthers on the board, before Greydon Miller and Wambach followed with back-to-back run-scoring doubles to knot the score at 3-3.

That rally came on the heels of a pair of Peacock home runs in the top half of the inning, as Brock Zimmer went deep for a 2-0 UIU lead and Gabe Bombardier followed with a solo shot -- the first of his two homers on the day -- to make it a three-run inning.

McClure sparked the Panthers' two-run second with a leadoff double to right-center and Landon Willbrand reached via a base hit. Bain chased them both home with his two-out double to left, handing Drury its first lead of the day at 5-3.

Bombardier belted his second homer in as many at-bats in the third inning, and J.J. Vargas followed suit with the fourth UIU round-tripper of the day to open the fourth. The Peacocks (15-21, 8-11 GLVC) added two more runs in the fourth, using back-to-back run-producing hits from Jayce Klug and Cael Luzum to turn what was a one-run deficit into a 7-5 advantage.

But the Panthers wasted no time in responding, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth on Logan Reidelberger's one-out single, then flipping the scoreboard with a six-run outburst in the sixth that put DU in front with a 12-7 cushion. Hits by Jackson Crider and Reidelberger ignited the rally, before a pair of walks, a Peacock throwing error and a hit batsman led to three more Panther tallies. Bases-loaded walks to Wambach, Crider and Luke Matschiner added to the DU run total as the Panthers sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning.

After Thomas dispatched nine consecutive UIU hitters from the fourth through the sixth innings, junior right-hander Coleman Morrison took the ball with the bases loaded and just one out in the seventh. Morrison promptly squashed the Peacock threat by inducing an inning-ending double-play grounder to keep UIU off of the scoreboard.

Morrison retired four of the first five hitters he faced, then worked around a leadoff error in the ninth to close out the victory -- the Panthers' fifth series-opening win in their five GLVC series to date.

Drury, which put at least one batter aboard in each inning and scored in five different frames, benefited from big afternoons by Reidelberger, who logged two hits and two RBIs, and Willbrand, who finished his day 2-for-4 at the plate.
 

LOOKING AHEAD
The Panthers and Peacocks continue their four-game series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at Mark Worley Field.

For all the latest information on Drury baseball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.

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