St. Louis – The Maryville baseball team earned a split with Kentucky Wesleyan, dropping the first game of the doubleheader, 9-5 in 13 innings and then bouncing back to take a 2-1 win in the nightcap at Weber Field in St. Louis.
 
The Panthers broke onto the scoreboard by scoring a pair of runs in each of the first two innings to grab an early 4-0 lead, but the Saints started to chip into that lead in the bottom of the second. Cody Klotz singled to left and moved over to second on a Connor Markell single to put runners at first and second. Klotz moved to third on a Troy Payton fielder's choice to give Maryville runners at the corners and then Camdon Mercier stepped in and delivered an RBI single to right center to cut the KWC lead to 4-1.  Mitch Carriger put the Saints a run closer in the home half of the sixth inning with a home run over the right field fence to cut the Panther lead to 4-2.
 
Maryville took a brief lead in the bottom of the seventh when Mercier started the inning with a double to left center and moved to third on a Danny Covert single to put runners at the corners. After Covert moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch, Louis Niemergl drilled a single to center field to score both runners and tie the game at 4-4. Cherokee Boyton entered the game to pinch run for Niemerg and moved over to third on a stolen base and an error. Carriger then drove in Boyton on a single through the right side to give the Saints a 5-4 advantage. The Panthers tied the contest at 5-5 in the top of the eighth inning and the score would remain that way until KWC scored four runs in the top of the 13th inning to earn a 9-5 victory.
 
Sam Danker suffered his first loss of the year by throwing one inning and giving up four runs on four hits. Carriger paced the Maryville attack at the plate by going 2-for-6 with a pair of runs batted in while Klotz, Markell, Mercier, and Zack Ruckman each added two hits in the losing effort.
 
Maryville struck first in the second game of the day when Ruckman singled to right center and advanced to second on a Niemerg single to give the Saints runners at first and second. Carriger then drew a walk to load the bases and Ruckman scored on a wild pitch to give Maryville a 1-0 lead.
 
The Saints held on to the slim one run lead until the top of the sixth when KWC scored the tying run on a wild pitch to make the score 1-1.
 
Tyler Catlett opened the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle and moved to third after a Mercier single and a throwing error. Ruckman then was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up the dramatic finish. Covert came to the plate and reached first on a fielder's choice to score Catlett and give the Saints a well-deserved split of the short two game series.
 
Brandon Downey earned his first win of the season by coming in relief and throwing 1.2 innings while giving up one hit and facing seven batters. Niemerg lead the way at the plate for Maryville by going 2-for-3 on the day as the Saints improved to 12-7 on the year.
 
Maryville returns to the diamond on Wednesday, March 22, as the Saints take on McKendree University in a double header slated to start at 1 p.m. at Weber Field.