MARION, Ill. – Maryville University claimed the first Great Lakes Valley Conference Baseball Championship in program history over Quincy University on Sunday afternoon. The Saints got an impressive start out of pitcher Sam Cardwell and a four-RBI performance from Camden Ruby to propel them to an 11-1 final.
 
GLVC Championship Recap
Sam Cardwell got the ball on the hill for the first GLVC Championship game appearance in program history for Maryville. He set down the side in order in the top of the first but surrendered a solo home run to Quincy's top hitter Austin Simpson in the top of the second inning.
 
In the bottom half of the second, the Saints loaded the bases with no outs and got RBI groundouts from Camden Ruby and Matt Arnold to take a 2-1 lead. Andy Bunton stepped in with a runner still at second base and plated a third run in the inning with a single up the middle.
 
Cardwell locked back in after surrendering the solo home run and retired 13 consecutive batters until giving up a single with one out in the top of the sixth.
 
Quincy made a pitching change in the bottom of the fifth and brought in the 2024 GLVC Pitcher of the Year Griffin Kirn who threw 113 pitches on Wednesday, May 8 in the opening round. The Saints worked three consecutive walks with no outs and plated a run on a sacrifice fly from Matt Schuler. Jacob Hager worked a walk to load the bases again and a wild pitch brought in the inning's second run. Ruby plated two more by burning the centerfielder for a double to make the score 7-1.
 
A Hawks reliever got two quick outs in the bottom half of the sixth when Michael Gould hit the first pitch of his at-bat over the left field wall to extend the lead to seven runs.
 
In the top of the seventh, Cardwell put runners at first and second with one out of the second but escaped without allowing a run with a pair of flyouts. The Maryville offense continued churning out runs with RBI doubles from Ruby and Arnold in the bottom half to give the team 11 runs.
 
Cardwell retired the side in order in the eighth and finished off his first career complete-game victory and the first GLVC Championship in the history of Maryville University.
 
Batting Leaders
Camden Ruby: 3-for-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI, R
Matt Arnold: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI
Michael Gould: 1-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R
 
Records:
Maryville: 38-16
Quincy: 28-26
 
What's Next?
The Saints will await their fate for the national tournament in the NCAA Selection Show tonight at 9:30 p.m. A link to the show will be on the front page of NCAA.com.  
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