MARION, Ill. – Second-seeded Maryville University baseball took a Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament opening-round victory over seventh-seeded Rockhurst University on Thursday afternoon. The Saints got six strong innings from Jacob Kroeger on the mound while the top four hitters in the lineup produced eight combined RBI.
 
Rockhurst Recap
Jacob Kroeger took the ball in the GLVC Tournament opener for Maryville, working a pair of scoreless frames with three strikeouts to start the game. He found some trouble in the second when two runners got on with one out, but the Palmyra, Mo., native got two strikeouts to escape.
 
In the bottom of the second, Hawks starter Michael Laudondo retired the first two hitters but walked Matt Arnold with two outs. Maryville's leading hitter Andy Bunton singled in front of the shortstop Jack Zebig who ripped a single into right field. The base hit brought in both runners, with Bunton dodging a tag at home plate for the second run.
 
Again Rockhurst challenged Kroeger in the third, putting Adonis Forte at second base with one out on a stolen base. He worked around trouble for the second consecutive inning with a pair of swinging strikeouts to put his total at five. In the fourth, they loaded the bases with two outs but the Saints' lefty fielded a groundball back to the mound to keep a 2-0 lead alive.
 
Arnold helped out his battery mate in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out solo home run down the left field line to extend the lead to three. Bunton dropped down a bunt for a single in the next at-bat, advanced to third on a Zebig single, and scored on a safety squeeze bunt from Michael Gould to make it 4-0.
 
Kroeger hit his stride in the final few frames of his start, ending the performance with six scoreless innings, six strikeouts, three hits, and two walks.  
 
Philip Reinhardt came in for the seventh and pitched a scoreless inning before exiting the game with runners at second and third with one out in the eighth. Griffin King was brought in and got a groundball which scored a run before surrendering a two-run home run to Patrick Wind to pull the Hawks within one.
 
Looking to add insurance to a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Maryville loaded the bases with one out. Gould stepped in and plated a run with a sacrifice fly to center field ahead of an RBI single from Elias Stevens that knocked Laudando out of the game with 120 pitches. Matt Schuler welcomed the new pitcher to the game with a deep three-run home run to right-center field to push the lead out to 9-3.
 
Noah Harbin closed out of the top of the ninth by retiring the side to seal up a 9-3 Saints win.
 
Winning Pitcher: Jacob Kroeger (7-0)
Losing Pitcher: Michael Laudando (7-5)
 
Batting Leaders
Jack Zebig: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB
Andy Bunton: 3-for-3, 2B, 3 R, BB
Matt Arnold: 2-for-2, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB
Matt Schuler: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
 
Records:
Maryville: 35-16, 26-10 GLVC
Rockhurst: 27-23, 18-17 GLVC
 
What's Next?
Maryville takes on William Jewell College in the second round of the GLVC Tournament after the sixth-seeded Cardinals took down third-seeded Drury University in the first round. The first pitch at Mtn Dew Park in Marion, Ill., is set for 4 p.m.
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