St. Louis –  The Maryville baseball team closed the 2017 with a rush as the Saints won two straight games Saturday to set the record for most victories in a season with 25. The Saints walked off with a 6-5 in game one and powered to a 7-1 triumph in the season finale.
 
The Miners grabbed an early 3-0 lead by scoring single runs in the first three innings but the Saints cut into the deficit in the bottom of the third. Camdon Mercier opened the frame with an infield single and moved up 90 feet as DeShawn Lindsey was hit by a pitch. The runners advanced to second and third on a ground out, and Mercier scored on another ground out to get the Saints to within two runs at 3-1. Danny Covert delivered a single to center field to drive in Lindsey to make the score 3-2. The Miners added a pair of runs in the fourth to extend the lead to 5-2 but the Saints tied the contest in the fifth. Lindsey smacked a one-out single up the middle and scored on a Zack Ruckman triple down the right field line to cut the Maryville deficit to two. After Cody Klotz drew a walk, Ruckman scored on a sacrifice bunt to again get the Saints to with a run at 5-4. Two batters later, Dalton Schumer drilled a single to center to score Klotz and tie the game at 5-5.
 
The Saints earned the walk-off win as Klotz drew a walk and advanced to second on a Covert single to center. A batter later, Schumer delivered the game winner with a single to right center to score Klotz and give the Saints a walk-off winner.
 
Senior Ryan Van Volkenburg came on in relief in the seventh and earned his second win of the year. Ruckman, Covert, and Schumer all had two hits and combined for five runs batted in in the victory.
 
Maryville got of the gate early in the season finale as the Saints took advantage of three walks to take a 1-0 lead as Ruckman scored on a Schumer sacrifice fly to give the Saints the lead. Missouri S&T knotted the game at 1-1 with a run in the fourth inning, but the Saints broke open the game in the bottom of the sixth when Covert drilled a bases loaded double down the left field line to clear the bases and give Maryville a 4-1 advantage. The Saints added another run in the sixth as Schumer singled to left to score Covert and give Maryville a 5-1 lead. Covert closed out a five-RBI outing as he launched a two-run homer to left in the eighth inning to complete the scoring.
 
Brian King notched the victory for the Saints, his first on the season. Five pitchers combined to limit the Miners (26-21, 16-12 GLVC) to one run on three hits.
 
The Saints closed the 2017 season at 25-25 overall, 12-16 in the GLVC.