The UMSL baseball team celebrated its first GLVC Championship since 2003 after beating Missouri S&T 13-8 in Saturday afternoon’s tournament final at Mtn. Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. (Photo by Joey Bunton)
Baseball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis baseball team became the fourth UMSL team to capture a Great Lakes Valley Conference title this spring when it won the GLVC Tournament on Saturday in Marion, Illinois. The second-seeded Tritons went 3-0 in tournament play, knocking off Indianapolis in its opening game on Thursday and beating top-seeded Missouri S&T on back-to-back days to secure its first conference title since 2003. UMSL had to come from behind in a 6-4 win over the Greyhounds. Starter Eli Cartwright struck out nine while allowing the four runs in 6 2/3 innings but left with the Tritons trailing 4-3. They stormed back with three in the eighth, taking advantage of a UIndy error and getting a two-run single from Justin Terhaar to take a 6-4 lead before shutting down the Greyhounds in the ninth. UMSL booked its place in the championship game by routing Missouri S&T 11-1 in seven innings on Friday. Terhaar and Justin Simard each had three hits. LJ Randle went 2 for 5, including a triple, and drove in two runs. Bennett Cagle homered, and starting pitcher Garrett Brunstetter pitched a complete game, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four. The offense stayed hot in Saturday’s championship game as the Tritons banged out 15 hits in a 13-8 victory. Mitch Bonczkowski had five hits and drove in a pair of runs. Garrett Strenger drove in four runs. Randle had three hits and scored three runs. UMSL led 10-2 after six innings and held on despite the Miners scoring six runs in the last two innings. The Tritons, who started the season 4-10, improved to 33-20 and secured a place in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. UMSL landed the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Regional and will take on third-seeded Wayne State at 2 p.m. Thursday in the opening game at the University of Illinois Springfield Baseball Field in Springfield, Illinois. “I’m ready to rock and roll,” Coach Scott Eul said after Saturday’s victory. “These guys are hungry. We’re playing our best baseball right now. These guys are ready to take on whatever challenge that’s brought our way right now, so I’m excited to see these guys go compete.”
Men’s Golf
The Tritons are headed back to the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships for the 14th time – and eighth under the direction of Coach Troy Halterman – after coming from behind to place second in the NCAA Midwest/Central Regional, which wrapped up Saturday at Katke Golf Club in Big Rapids, Michigan. UMSL posted a combined 54-hole score of 872 to finish five shots back of regional champion Grand Valley State. Central Missouri and Washburn also advanced to the NCAA Championships from the 20-team field. The Tritons shot a final round score of 4-under-par 284 to climb from seventh place up to second and secure an automatic bid to the national championships. Dani Solavera led the way by placing second individually with a total of 213, including a final-round 69. Trigg Lindahl also shot 69 on Saturday and tied for fourth overall. UMSL also got scores of 222 from Ludvig Granlund, 225 from Logan Mayo and 229 from Leo Baudry. Central Missouri CJ Phillips was the individual medalist with a score of 211. The Tritons will compete in the NCAA Championships May 18-22 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada.
Women’s Golf
UMSL booked a place in the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships for the seventh time in program history after finishing fourth in the 18-team East Regional, which concluded Monday at Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio. The Tritons posted a 54-hole score of 945 and advanced along with Findlay, Grand Valley State and Ferris State. Findlay claimed the regional title with a combined score of 903. Wilma Zanderau was UMSL’s top individual finisher, placing sixth with a total of 227, and Hillary Currier tied for 14th with a score of 234. Mayan Covarrubias finished with a total of 242, Emmy Wahl was at 248, and Alaina Ervin was at 249. Findlay’s Ashleigh Duffo was the individual medalist for a second straight year with a total of 219. The NCAA Championships will be held May 12-16 at PGA National in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Women’s Tennis
The Tritons, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, fell to Davenport 4-2 Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Grand Valley State University Tennis Courts in Allendale, Michigan. UMSL, seeded fourth, won two of the three doubles matches to win the opening point of the dual as Giuliana Cunza and Lauren Sweeney swept Skye Vandeleur and Alice Maccani 6-0 in the No. 3 match and the No. 2 tandem of Aleksandra Lopez and Millie Wileman beat Maja Sandstrom and Addison Lind 6-2. But Davenport had the upper hand in singles play. Hannah Tse won her No. 1 singles match 6-3, 6-4 over Vandeleur, but Amy Bloch beat Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (5) at No. 2 singles, Wileman was forced to retire after dropping the opening set at No. 3, Lotte Federski beat Cunza 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5 and Lind beat Sweeney 6-3, 6-0 at No. 6. The Tritons finished their season 15-5, including a 4-0 record in the GLVC’s East Division and won the first conference title in program history.
Softball
UMSL’s season came to an end after losses to fifth-seeded Rockhurst and eighth-seeded Drury in the GLVC Tournament at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Illinois. The Hawks shut out the fourth-seeded Tritons 1-0 in Wednesday’s opening game. Eva Fulk scored the game’s only run on a throwing error, and UMSL managed only four hits, spoiling a strong start from Kenzie Stoltz, who allowed no earned runs and struck out five in seven innings. That dropped the Tritons to the loser’s bracket, where they faced the Panthers and fell 6-2 on Thursday. UMSL committed four errors, leading to five unearned Drury runs. Stoltz took the loss despite holding the Panthers to one earned run on four hits while striking out six in 4 1/3 innings. Kiley Sullivan had three of UMSL’s eight hits, including a two-run home run. The Tritons finished the season 26-26 and were 19-9 in GLVC play.
