Boliver, Mo. – The Maryville baseball team battled back from a five run deficit but fell short to Southwest Baptist 7-5 on Friday in Boliver, Mo.
After giving up five runs in the first two innings, the Saints got on the scoreboard with a
Matt Scheibel solo blast in the fourth, to cut the Bearcat lead to 5-1. SBU added to their lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to grab a 7-1 advantage.
The Saints did not go away quietly as they pushed across four runs in the top of the seventh inning. The inning started with
Garrett Taylor forcing a walk and then
Troy Payton singled and moved up to second on the throw to put Saints at first and second with no outs.
Camdon Mercier stepped in and drilled a two-run double to left field to cut the Bearcat lead to 7-3. After a pair of saints were hit by pitches, Scheibel hit a long fly ball to centerfield to drive in Mericer and make the score 7-4. Maryville kept things going after a walk to
Mitch Carriger reloaded the bases and
Dalton Schumer answered with an infield single to cut the lead to 7-5.
Maryville had a chance in the top of the ninth as the Saints loaded the bases again on a Danny Covert single and a pair of walks, but the Bearcats grabbed the win on a game ending double play.
Louis Niemerg suffered his first loss of the year going three innings and giving up all seven Bearcat runs on 10 hits. The Saints bullpen came in a closed the door on SBU by only giving up four hits the rest of the way.
Scheibel finished the afternoon going 2-of-3 with a pair of runs batted in while Mercier went 2-of-4 with two RBI's in the loss.
Maryville returns to the diamond tomorrow afternoon against the Bearcats in a doubleheader that is set to begin at noon.
