Parkside baseball dropped its final two games in Missouri on Monday afternoon, first falling to No. 14 St. Cloud State 5-2 after a rough fourth inning and then seeing a late rally fall short against Missouri S&T with a final score of 6-4.
 
GAME 1: #14 St. Cloud State 5, Parkside 2
Parkside took the early 2-0 lead, but a five-run top of the fourth inning helped the No. 14 Huskies to the win. The Rangers were outhit 7-6 by SCSU and charged with three errors.
 
How it Happened
After Peyton Schneider pitched the first three innings scoreless with six straight strikeouts in the second and third inning, the Rangers gave him the lead in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs. Casey Oliver hit a one-out double to left field and Shawn Rigsby was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Hunter Weddel hit an RBI single followed by a Nick Eisenmenger RBI double to make it 2-0 Parkside.
 
The Huskies responded in the top of the fourth, as the first four batters reached on a single, two walks and an error. SCSU took the lead on a two-run single followed by a two-run home run to make it 5-1 and Parkside couldn't get the offense going again.
 
Statworthy
The Rangers scattered six hits throughout the lineup, as Weddel and Eisenmenger each went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Oliver, Eisenmenger and Ochs all had doubles.
 
Schneider was tagged with the loss, pitching 6.2 innings allowing five runs with nine strikeouts. Aaron Cusimano pitched the final 2.1 innings scoreless with three strikeouts.
 
GAME 2: Missouri S&T 6, Parkside 4
The Miners scored all six runs in the first five innings, and a late Parkside rally fell short where the team scored their four runs in the eighth and ninth. Eisenmenger hit his first career home run and the first for the Rangers this season in the eighth, while Dominic Esposito hit his first home run of the season in the ninth.
 
How it Happened
The Miners got two runs in the first, two in the third and two in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead while holding Parkside scoreless until the eighth inning.
 
In the eighth, Eisenmenger hit a solo home run to left field to make it 6-1. In the ninth inning, Paul Weise and Justin Bennett led off with back-to-back singles and both advanced up on a wild pitch. After a Niko Diaz sacrifice fly, Esposito hit his first homer of the season, this one a two-run blast to left field to make it 6-4 Miners. Eisenmenger hit a double to bring the tying run to the plate, but a strikeout ended the game.
 
Statworthy
Eisenmenger went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and an RBI while Bennett finished 3-for-4 with a run. Weise had a 2-for-4 ball game while Esposito had the two-run home run.
 
Nicholas Rana suffered the loss, going 6.0 innings allowing six runs (two earned) with two strikeouts. Mason Martin had a good outing, going the final 4.0 innings scoreless with a strikeout and no walks.
 
What's Next
Parkside will head to Nashville, Tenn., for three games over the weekend, facing Southern Indiana and Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday, March 2 at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. The team will conclude the weekend with another game against USI on Sunday at noon.