ST. LOUIS – Maryville University baseball took the opening two games of the Lewis University series on Saturday with a 9-0 win in game one and a 9-5 game two victory. Ben Gregory tossed seven scoreless innings to lead the Saints' shutout game-one win and Michael Gould hit three home runs across two games to fuel the offense.
 
Game One Recap
Freshman starting pitcher Ben Gregory was locked in from the first pitch of game one, striking out his first two batters faced. Lewis got a runner on with a single, but Gregory caught the cleanup man looking to strike out the side.
 
Michael Gould got the offense going with an infield single in the bottom of the first, followed by an Elias Stevens single. After a balk, Matt Schuler drilled a single into center field to give Maryville a 2-0 lead.
 
The right-handed pitcher from Granger, Ind., continued to stifle the Flyer bats and received more run support in the bottom of the fourth with a Jacob Hager solo home run to left field. In the fifth, Gould drove in another run with a double, Zeb Roos blasted a three-run home run, and Michael Long plated the eighth run of the game with an RBI triple.
 
The Saints added another in the sixth with a solo home run from Gould before Gregory wrapped up his day on the mound with a scoreless seventh. In total, he went seven scoreless with five strikeouts, three hits allowed, and two walks.
 
Drake Downing came out of the bullpen in the eighth, hurling two scoreless frames with three strikeouts to give Maryville a 9-0 shutout victory in game one.
 
Winning Pitcher: Ben Gregory (4-0)
Losing Pitcher: S. Gorman (0-4)
  
Batting Leaders
Michael Gould: 3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R
Zeb Roos: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI
Jacob Hager: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R
 
Game Two Recap
Jacob Kroeger got the nod in game two and retired the side in order in the top of the first with a pair of strikeouts. Flyers ace Jake Karaba struck out his first batter in the bottom of the first, but Gould met him with a long home run to left-center to give his team an early lead.
 
Maryville struck for three more in the bottom of the second. Schuler kicked off the frame with a double before an error and a walk loaded the bases for catcher Matt Arnold. Arnold delivered a two-RBI single through the left side to extend the lead to three. Later in the inning, Gould continued to drive in runs with a sacrifice fly. Karaba had given up just three earned runs in his previous 31.2 innings pitched before Saturday's start.
 
Kroeger continued to pitch well through the first few innings, picking up two more strikeouts in a 1-2-3 top of the third and another in a scoreless fourth. In the bottom half of the fourth, Gould hit his third home run of the day with a three-run home run to extend the lead to seven runs.
 
The Flyers began a comeback bid in the fifth when they picked up a pair of runs on an RBI double and an infield single. Arnold got those two runs back for the Saints, however, when Lewis opted to intentionally walk Camden Ruby with a runner on second. Arnold stepped in and hammered the first pitch he saw for a two-RBI double.
 
Philip Reinhardt came in to pitch the sixth, ending Kroeger's day with five innings pitched, one earned allowed, and eight strikeouts. The Flyers got three more runs back off the Saints' relievers, but Nick Schmidt ended the doubleheader sweep with a flyout to left.
 
Winning Pitcher: Jacob Kroeger (1-2)
Losing Pitcher: J. Karaba (3-1)
  
Batting Leaders
Michael Gould: 2-for-3, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Matt Arnold: 2-for-2, 2B, 4 RBI, BB. R
Matt Schuler: 1-for-3, 2B, R
 
Records:
Maryville: 18-6, 9-1 GLVC
Lewis: 10-14, 3-7 GLVC

What's Next?
The Saints wrap up the four-game set with Lewis on Sunday, April 2 in a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to start at noon.