ST. LOUIS – Maryville University baseball took the first of a four-game set against the University of Missouri–St. Louis with a 9-1 final on Friday afternoon.
UMSL Recap
Tritons' starter Nick Torres worked out of a jam to keep the Saints scoreless in the top of the first despite issuing a lead-off walk and a two-out single.
Jacob Kroeger responded in the bottom half with a 1-2-3 inning start to his day.
Michael Gould tripled to centerfield to begin the top of the second and came in to score on an RBI groundout from
Ben Hopkins.
Andy Bunton doubled in the next at-bat and came around to score on a bases-loaded fielder's choice from
Dominic Connolly.
The Tritons led off the bottom of the second with a deep home run down the right-field line to cut the lead in half.
Still leading 2-1 in the top of the fourth, Connolly drove in his team's third run on an RBI single to left field.
Joey Polak then reached on a fielder's choice and
Elias Stevens followed up with a walk to load the bases for
Alex Hoff. The senior outfielder proceeded to drill a grand slam into left-center to blow open a 7-1 lead.
Kroeger continued to throw up zeroes on the mound, holding UMSL to just one run and two hits over six innings of work. Additionally, his eight strikeouts gave him the Saints' single-season strikeout record (85), breaking the previous record of 77 held by Cody Creed (2019).
After adding two more on RBI from Willis, the Saints called upon freshman pitcher
Ben Guzek to finish off the Tritons in the bottom of the ninth and he responded by retiring the side in order. With the win, Maryville improves their Great Lakes Valley Conference record to 17-8 to tighten their grip on second place in the Green division.
Winning Pitcher: Jacob Kroeger (5-1)
Losing Pitcher: Nick Torres (2-5)
Hitting Leaders:
Alex Hoff: 1-for-5, Grand Slam, 4 RBI
Brad Willis: 2-for-2, 2B, 2 RBI, R, 3 BB
Andy Bunton: 2-for-4, 2B, 3 R, BB
Records:
Maryville: 28-18, 17-8 GLVC
UMSL: 13-29, 12-13
What's Next?
The Saints continue their series with the Tritons on Saturday, May 7 with a road doubleheader beginning at noon.
