ROLLA, Mo. – Jacob Kroeger earned his fourth consecutive victory in an 8-1 game one win for Maryville baseball on Friday afternoon. The Saints, behind seven strong from their starter, earned their sixth win in a row before dropping game two 8-5 to McKendree University.
 
Game one recap
The Bearcats got out to another early lead on the Saints after a leadoff single, a stolen base, and a Corey Price RBI double down the left-field line. The McKendree starter held the lead through one with a shutout bottom half.
 
Maryville tied the game in the second inning after Alex Hoff, coming off a three-home run performance on Thursday, was hit by a pitch and came around to score on Ben Hopkins' sacrifice fly.
 
Still knotted up at one, the Saints exploded in the fourth. Hoff scored again on a wild pitch to take a 2-1 lead, followed by a run-scoring balk, a Nick Hoffman RBI bunt single, and RBI singles from Dominic Connolly and Joey Polak. Now up 6-1, Hoff stepped to the plate and ripped a two-RBI double to left field.
 
After getting out to a rocky start in the first, Maryville starter Jacob Kroeger settled down and tossed six scoreless frames after that to wrap up a complete-game win. The Palmyra, Missouri native racked up eight more strikeouts on the way to his fourth consecutive victory.
 
Winning Pitcher: Jacob Kroeger (4-1)
Losing Pitcher: Mac Grant (3-2)
 
Batting Leaders
Brad Willis: 3-for-4, 2B, 1 R
Alex Hoff: 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, SB, 2 R
Joey Polak: 1-for-4, R, BB
 
Game two recap
For the third straight game, the Bearcats jumped ahead of the Saints early. They found a run in the second and four in the fourth to build up a 5-0 lead.
 
The home team pulled within one run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Andy Bunton followed soon after by a three-run home run from Connolly. After surrendering one in the top of the sixth, Maryville again cut the lead down to one on an RBI from Brad Willis in the bottom half.
 
In the top of the seventh and final frame, McKendree posted two insurance runs in before sending out their closer, Mark Branz. Branz found trouble after putting the first two runners on base but worked out of the jam with three consecutive outs to finish off a Bearcat win.
 
Winning Pitcher: Andrew Yancik (3-3)
Losing Pitcher: Ryan Louck (2-5)
 
Batting Leaders
Andy Bunton: 3-for-3, 2B, RBI, R
Dominic Connolly: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
Brad Willis: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
 
Records:
Maryville: 21-16, 9-6 GLVC
McKendree: 11-20, 6-7 GLVC
 
What's Next?
Maryville and McKendree wrap up their weekend series with a noon start at Weber Baseball Field on Saturday.