St. Louis – The Maryviile baseball team exploded for six runs in the sixth inning as the Saints defeated Rockhurst 8-5 Friday afternoon at Weber Field in Great Lakes Valley Conference action. Tanner Marshall tossed five solid innings of three hit baseball with eight strikeouts to earn the win as it gives Maryville its first league win of the season.
 
Game One: 
After both team's starting pitchers controlled the first four innings of play, the Hawks cracked the scoreboard in the fifth with a double and then two batters later, an RBI single to left drove in a run to give Rockhurst a 1-0 advantage. The Saints answered in the home half of the inning as Matt Schuler scored on a throwing error to even the game at 1-1. Maryville took the lead as Dominic Connolly hit into a fielder's choice and drove in Alex Hoff to make the score 2-1.
 
Maryville added to the lead in the sixth with four consecutive singles as Schuler and Jamie Young each drove in runs with base hits to make the score 4-1. Michael Gould then cleared the bases with a three-run blast over the left field wall to extend the lead to 7-1. Maryville scored once again in the inning as Joey Polak drove in a run with a double down the left field line to put the Saints on top 8-1.
 
The Hawks plated a run in the seventh and three more runs in the eighth to cut the Maryville advantage to 8-5. Drake Salsman pitched the ninth inning to earn his first save of the year. Tanner Marshall tossed five solid innings of three hit baseball with eight strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the season.
 
Winning Pitcher: Marshall (2-0)
Save: Salsman (1)
Losing Pitcher: K. Shilt (0-1)
Hitting leaders: Stevens – 2-for-3, 2B, run scored
                            Connolly – 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, run scored
                           
Records:
Maryville – 3-7, 1-2 GLVC
Rockhurst – 6-3, 2-1 GLVC
 
Up Next: The four-game series with the Hawks continues Saturday with a doubleheader at Weber Field starting at 11 a.m.