Liberty, Mo. – The Maryville baseball team continued their eight game road trip with a doubleheader sweep of Great Lakes Valley Conference foe, William Jewell College Friday afternoon. The Saints turned nine hits into nine runs in a 9-5 victory in the first game of the series and then battled back in the nightcap to claim a 5-4 win.
The Cardinals struck first in the second inning with a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead after a one hour and 35 minute delay due to rain. Maryville took advantage of a pair of walks to tie the game at 2-2 in the fourth as both
Mitch Carriger and
Louis Niemerg drew free passes and then scored a batter later on a
Dalton Schumer double to left center to tie the affair.
The Saints then took the lead for good as
Connor Markell smashed his first home run of the year to score Niemerg and Schumer, who both walked, to give Maryville a 5-2 advantage. Maryville added insurance runs in the seventh when Carriger hit a double to center field and Niemerg moved him 90 feet with a single. The two scored as
Camdon Mercier reached base on an error to give the Saints a 7-2 lead.
William Jewell added three runs in the bottom of the frame to cut the Maryville lead to 7-5, but the Saints sealed the deal in the top of the ninth with two more runs as pinch runner
Troy Payton scored on a Schumer double down the left line and then Mercier scored on a Markell sacrifice fly to left field to give Maryville a 9-5 lead.
AJ Dean improved his record to 4-2 on the season by going six innings and giving up four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts on the afternoon. Schumer paced the Saints at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance with three RBI's while Markell added four runs batted in and Carriger and Niemerg added two hits apiece in the win.
The back end of the doubleheader started the same as the opener with the Cardinals grabbing a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Saints then grabbed the lead in the top of the second when Niemerg opened the frame with a walked and Mercier and Schumer added back-to-back singles to load the bases.
Garrett Taylor then reached base on a fielder's choice to score Niemerg to get the Saints to within a run at 2-1.
Zack Ruckman then delivered a double to left center and
Tyler Catlett backed that up with a single to score three runs as it gave Maryville a 4-2 lead. William Jewell bounced right back in the home half of the frame with two more runs to knot the contest at 4-4.
The score remained the same over the next three innings until Maryville regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning as Mercier singled to left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Taylor then was hit by a pitch and Ruckman walked to load the bases for Catlett, who grounded into a fielder's choice to score Mercier as it gave the Saints a 5-4 lead. The Cardinals could only muster a walk over the last two innings as
Alec Harris earned his first save of the year with two innings of no-hit ball.
Ryan Van Volkenburg earned his first win of the year with a third of an inning pitched as the Saints bullpen was fantastic as the Saints improved to 20-16 and 7-7 in GLVC play. Catlett led the way for the Saints by going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI's while Mercier chipped in with two hits and two runs scored.
The Saints return to the diamond tomorrow as Maryville wraps up the series against the Cardinals with doubleheader slated to begin at noon.
