UMSL runners Benjamin VandenBrink (at left) and Jacob Warner finished second and third in the men’s 5,000-meter run at the GLVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held at Allgood-Bailey Stadium in Rolla, Missouri. (Photo courtesy of UMSL Athletics)
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
Benjamin VandenBrink and Jacob Warner turned in the three best performances by University of Missouri–St. Louis track and field athletes ever in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend in Rolla, Missouri. VandenBrink finished second in the men’s 5,000-meter run on Saturday, posting a time of 14 minutes, 59.97 seconds at Allgood-Bailey Stadium. He finished less than 6 seconds ahead of Warner, who crossed the line in third place with a time of 15:05.29. Warner also ran to a fourth-place finish on Thursday in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 30:57.71. He was responsible for 11 of UMSL’s 19 points in the team competition as the Tritons men finished in 10th place. Kayley Heeter and Lily Wagemann were UMSL’s top women finishers, placing 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run on Saturday.
Softball
UMSL played its way to the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament, knocking off top-seeded and sixth-ranked Indianapolis 1-0 on Saturday evening before falling to the Greyhounds 1-0 in 8 innings Sunday in the double-elimination tournament. Indianapolis’ Maddy Stout hit a solo home run to left field off UMSL’s Annie Scaramuzzi for Sunday’s only run. Scaramuzzi had held the Greyhounds to four hits while striking out 10 the evening before in a shutout victory. She also scored the only run in Saturday’s game on an RBI double by catcher Riley Schultz. The Tritons opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss to seventh-seeded Rockhurst on Thursday, but they fought back to the semifinal round by winning elimination games against third-seeded McKendree 4-1 on Friday and Rockhurst 8-2 on Saturday. Megan Brown had a team-high six hits in the tournament, and Irene Travis and Maddie Snemis and had four each. UMSL (33-20) received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the 2023 bracket was unveiled on Monday morning. The Tritons will make their first appearance in the tournament since 2019 and 10th overall. They will be seeded seventh in the Midwest Region and will take on No. 2 seed Grand Valley State at 11 a.m. Thursday in the opening game of their sub-regional in Allendale, Michigan. No. 6 seed Ohio Dominican will face No. 3 seed Saginaw Valley in the other first round game. All games will be played at the GVSU Softball Field.
Baseball
The Tritons’ season came to an end over the weekend as they were swept in a four-game series against No. 21 Illinois Springfield at the UMSL Baseball Field. UMSL was outscored 55-22, losing 11-4 and 14-4 on Saturday and 16-5 and 14-9 on Sunday. Andrew Buescher hit a pair of home runs, giving him six home runs on the season, and also drove in four runs on the weekend. The Tritons also got homers from Carson Holin and Mitchell Green. Holin finished with five RBI, and Green had three RBI. The Tritons finished 21-29, including 14-18 in conference play in the Coach Scott Eul‘s first season.
