Romeoville, Ill. – The Maryville baseball team split the series opening doubleheader against Lewis University on Friday afternoon in Romeoville, Ill. In game one, the Saints hit a record-tying five homeruns on their way to a 12-4 victory. Game two saw the roles reverse, as the Flyers hit four long balls in a 17-1 win.
 
Game One: 
The Flyers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with a homer to right field. The Saints answered in the second inning thanks to a Jackson Burrell single down the right field line to bring home Ben Hopkins and tie the score 1-1. 
 
Maryville took the lead with some help from the long ball in the third inning. Elias Stevens sent his fourth blast of the year over the right center field fence to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. Joey Polak then walked and Hopkins singled up the middle to put two men on base for Alex Hoff. The centerfielder proceeded to drive his sixth homerun of the season to left field and extend the Saints lead to 5-1. 
 
Polak led the way in the fifth inning with his team-high eighth homerun of the year to straightaway centerfield, making it a 6-1 Saints lead. Lewis responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the Saints lead to 6-3. 
 
 Dominic Connolly continued the homerun derby in the sixth inning with a shot of his own to make the score 7-3. The Flyers added a run in the bottom of the sixth, shrinking the lead to 7-4. 
 
In the top of the seventh, Matt Schuler smacked the fifth homerun of the game for the Saints, bringing in Michael Gould and Hoff to make it 10-4. The five Saint homeruns are the most in a game this season and ties the school record that was set in February 2019 against Southwest Baptist. 
 
The Saints still had some offense to spare in the seventh as Stevens drove in two more with a single up the middle and the Saints bounced the Flyers by a score of 12-4. 
 
Winning Pitcher: Ryan Louck (6-2)
Save: None
Losing Pitcher: Brad Littleton (5-4)
Hitting leaders: Hoff – 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored
                            Stevens – 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, run scored
 
Game Two:
Lewis found their groove early with three runs in the bottom of the first. Maryville found the scoreboard in the second after Schuler sent a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Hoff and make it a 3-1 contest. 
 
The Flyers stayed hot offensively, adding two runs in the second inning, five runs in the third inning, and seven runs in the fifth inning to secure the win, 17-1. 
 
Winning Pitcher: Jake Karaba (5-1)
Save: None
Losing Pitcher: Tanner Marshall (3-3)
Hitting leaders: Polak – 1-for-2
                            Hoff – 1-for-1, run scored
 
Records:
Maryville – 13-17, 11-11 GLVC
Lewis – 16-14, 14-12 GLVC
 
Up Next: The Saints stay in Romeoville, Ill. for game three of the four-game series against the Flyers on Saturday at noon.