Catcher Bryce Kulinski had five hits, including two home runs, and drove in eight runs to help lead UMSL to a series sweep of Southwest Baptist over the weekend. UMSL combined for 50 runs in the four-game series. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Baseball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis baseball team swept a four-game series with visiting Southwest Baptist over the weekend at the UMSL Baseball Field. The Tritons’ bats came alive to score a total of 50 runs as they won 11-10 and 14-7 in Friday’s doubleheader, prevailed 12-2 in eight innings on Saturday and took Sunday’s series finale 13-6. Bryce Kulinski hit a walkoff home run in the ninth inning of Friday’s opener to give UMSL the victory and set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Kulinski went deep again in the eighth inning Saturday, hitting a grand slam that ended the game. Kulinski drove in a run on Sunday, but it was Mitchell Green and Justin Simard who inflicted the most damage on the Bearcats, combining to go 4 for 8 with nine RBI. Green, who homered Sunday, also drove in three runs in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. The sweep of Southwest Baptist came on the heels of a 15-2 loss to Maryville on Tuesday, but that was the Tritons’ only loss in its past seven games. UMSL (20-18, 13-7 Great Lakes Valley Conference) will play host to Quincy for a four-game series beginning Friday.
Softball
The Tritons snapped a four-game losing streak by Friday when they swept a doubleheader at Missouri S&T, winning the first game 8-1 and blanking the Miners 6-0 in the second. Mimi Bradley did a little bit of everything to win the opener, holding S&T to one run on seven hits in six innings in the circle and also driving in a pair of runs with a seventh-inning double. Annie Scaramuzzi held the Miners to two hits and struck out seven in seven shutout innings in the second game. She also drove in the first run with an RBI single in a six-run fourth inning. After winning two against Missouri S&T, UMSL split Sunday’s doubleheader at Drury, getting shut out 3-0 in the opener before bouncing back for a 5-1 victory. Jenna Towle pitched UMSL to the win, surrendering five hits and striking out four in seven innings. Irene Travis snapped a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the fifth and hit a two-run home run in the seventh. The Tritons (26-16, 12-6 GLVC) will travel to Maryville for a doubleheader on Saturday.
Men’s Golf
The 22nd-ranked UMSL men’s golf team finished second in a 13-team field in last week’s Ken Partridge Invitational in Noblesville, Indiana, and carried that momentum with them into the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship on Sunday as it opened up an eight-shot lead over second-place McKendree as the Tritons look to defend last year’s title at Paradise Pointe Golf Club in Smithville, Missouri. UMSL shot a combined 295 in the opening round of the 54-hole tournament. Nick Hedberg and Joel Sylven were both tied for second after the first round after carding scores of 73, Cyril Henault was shot back in a tie for fifth, and Juan Antonio Padilla was tied for eighth with an opening-round 75. The Tritons had four golfers in the top 13 finishers at the Ken Partridge Invitational with Sylven placing fourth, Henault fifth, Leo Baudry tied for eighth and Padilla tied for 13th. The GLVC Championship continues today and concludes Tuesday.
Women’s Golf
The host Tritons finished fourth at UMSL’s Spring Invitational, which concluded last Monday at Norwood Hills Country Club. UMSL combined to post a team score of 936, 26 shots behind winner Grand Valley State in the 54-hole tournament. Sophomore Tove Brunell finished second individually with a total of 223, four shots back of Grand Valley State’s Olivia Stoll. Brunell was honored with her third GLVC Player of the Week honor of the season. Wilma Zanderau also cracked the top 15, finishing tied for 15th with a total of 232. The Tritons next play in the GLVC Championship, which will be held Friday through Sunday at Paradise Pointe Golf Club in Smithville, Missouri.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
UMSL’s track teams managed eight top 20 finishes last Friday at the University of Central Missouri Mule Relays in Warrensburg, Missouri. Benjamin VandenBrink and Jacob Warner were the Tritons’ top performers, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the men’s 5,000-meter race. VandenBrink posted a time of 14 minutes, 48.29 seconds, and Warner was shortly behind with a time of 14:50.92. Other top-20 men’s finishers were Gavin Love, who placed 14th in both the 800 and 1,500, and Michael Wright, who was 17th in the 1,500. On the women’s side, Dominica Rooks was 15th in the 400, Lily Wagemann finished 17th in the 1,500, and Kayley Heeter was 20th in the 5,000. UMSL will next compete in the Dewey Allgood Quad on Saturday in Rolla, Missouri.
Men’s Tennis
The Tritons picked up their fourth dual meet victory of the season on Friday when they pulled out a 4-3 victory against Illinois Springfield at the UMSL Tennis Courts, but their season ended a day later with a 6-1 loss to visiting Lewis. UMSL (4-12, 1-4 GLVC) won the doubles point against the Prairie Stars and got singles victories from top-two players Jose Mayorga and Juan Vigil as well as a default win from Pascal Maclean-Wood. Maclean-Wood also got a default win for the Tritons’ lone point against the Flyers.
Women’s Tennis
UMSL’s season came to an end Saturday when inclement weather canceled its dual meet against Lewis with the Tritons trailing 3-2 at the UMSL Tennis Courts. They had lost a 4-3 on Friday against Illinois Springfield. Anna Domingo and Hannah Tse each won their singles match against the Prairie Stars, and Domingo also teamed with Anna Favaron to win the No. 2 doubles match to help UMSL (7-8, 0-4 GLVC) win the doubles point. Tse and Lisa Kerr had won singles matches against Lewis when play was halted.
