St. Louis – The Maryville baseball team dropped a pair of games to Great Lakes Valley Conference rival, Quincy University Monday afternoon. The Saints fell in game one by a score of 11-5 and then dropped the night cap, 6-5 at Weber Field.
The Saints got out of the gate early in the first inning as
Danny Covert led off with a double down the left field line and scored as
Mitch Carriger drilled a single to right to give Maryville an early 1-0 lead. Quincy answered right back with six runs in the top of the second to grab a 6-1 advantage, but the Saints battled back as
Zack Ruckman drew a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Ruckman then moved to third on a single by Covert and scored on the second wild pitch of the inning to make the score 6-2. Covert came around to score on a
Cody Klotz single up the middle to cut the Hawk lead to 6-3.
Quincy added five more runs in the top of the third to extend the lead to 11-3, but the Saints again cut into the lead in the home half of the sixth inning as
Dalton Schumer opened the frame with a single to left field and moved to third on a Ruckman double down the right field line to put runners at second and third with one out.
Camdon Mercier stepped in and singled to left to score Schumer and Ruckman scored on a fielding error to cut the Hawks lead to 11-5, but the Saints could get no closer as the Quincy bullpen retired the Saints in order in the seventh to earn the win.
Brian King threw an inning and a third while giving up six runs on five hits on the afternoon. Covert paced the Saints offense by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the loss.
Maryville opened the scoring in the second inning with Covert hitting an infield single and moving to third as Ruckman lifted a single to right center to put runners at second and third. Mercier then lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Covert and give the Saints an early 1-0 lead. The Saints extended the lead in the fifth inning as Mercier opened the inning with a single to left and moved up 90 feet as Covert was hit by a pitch. Maryville loaded the bases with a Niemerg walk and Carriger drove home a pair of runs with a single to right field to give the Saints a 3-0 lead.
After Quincy battled back and took the lead with a pair of runs in the seventh and four runs in the eighth to take a 6-3 advantage, the Saints mounted a comeback of their own in the home half of the inning as
Garrett Taylor drew a free pass and moved to second as Mercier singled to center field. The Saints loaded the bases as Covert reached base on an error and pulled to within a run as Klotz drove in Taylor and Mercier scored as Niemerg grounded into a double play to make the score 6-5, but that is as close as Maryville could get as Quincy closer Cole Crawford shut out the Saints in the ninth to earn the Hawks a sweep.
Alec Harris lost his first game of the season by giving up a pair of runs on two hits while Klotx, Niemerg, and Mercier all has two hits while Carriger added a pair of runs batted in for Maryville.
Maryville (22-20, 9-11 GLVC) embark on their final road trip of the year as the Saints travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on Drury University Saturday, April 29 in a doubleheader set to begin at noon.
