St. Louis – The Maryville University baseball team use the long ball to propel them to a doubleheader sweep of McKendree Sunday afternoon at Weber Field. The Saints hit three homers in the first game of the day to earn a 13-7 victory and added another round tripper in the nightcap to defeat the Bearcats 8-2.
 
Game One:
The Saints got off to an early start as Drake Lubin opened the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a Garrett Taylor single to give Maryville a 1-0 lead. After a walk and a pair of singles to load the bases, Maryville scored a run on a wild pitch and then Taylor scored on a single to give the Saints a 3-0 lead. Maryville added another run in the first to take a 4-0 lead. After the Bearcats cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the second, Brennan Williams drilled a grand slam over the right field fence to extend the Maryville lead to 8-3. The Saints were not done yet in the second as Louis Niemerg drilled a two-run shot to give Maryville a 10-3 advantage. Dalton Schumer added to the Saints lead in the home half of the third with a solo shot to give Maryville an 11-3 lead. McKendree added runs in the latter stages of the game but could not get closer as the Saints bullpen closed out the affair to give Arcentae Stone his first win of the year.
 
Winning Pitcher: Stone (1-0)
Save: None
Losing Pitcher: Lucas Vallandingham (0-1)
Hitting leaders: Williams – 2-for-4, HR, 4 RBIs, two runs scored
                             Schumer – 2-for-4, HR, RBI, three runs scored
 
Game Two:
Zack Ruckman got the Saints going in the home half of the first with a two-run single to stake Maryville to an early 2-0 lead. The Saints added a pair of runs in the third inning as Williams drew a walk and moved to second on a Ruckman single. After a wild pitch moved the runners up ninety feet, Daniel Covert lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Williams and Connor Markell drilled a single to left to score Ruckman as it gave the Saints a 4-0 advantage. The Saints added three runs in the fourth on four hits, including a two-run single by Williams to extend the lead to 7-1. After the Bearcats scored a run in the seventh inning, Camdon Mercier added some insurance with a solo blast to give the Saints an 8-2 lead.
 
Winning Pitcher: Joey Lodes (1-0)
Save: None
Losing Pitcher: Ryan Moore (0-1)
Hitting leaders: Williams – 3-for-4, 2B (2), 2 RBIs, three runs scored
                             Markell – 2-for-3, 2B, RBI
 
Records:
Maryville – 5-4
McKendree – 1-6
 
Up Next – The home stand continues as the Saints will host Saginaw Valley State in a four-game series that begins with a single game Friday, March 2 at 2 p.m.