ST. LOUIS – Closing out their weekend round-robin with Emporia State Hornets and the Hillsdale Chargers, the Maryville baseball team split, ending the weekend 2-2. The Saints began with a battle against the Chargers, winning the high-scoring game 15-10, before falling 18-5 to Emporia State.
 
The story of the day was young Andrew Gould, who blasted his first career home run against Hillsdale, a grand slam in the sixth inning. He added onto it, hitting his first pinch-hit homer later in the day against ESU.
 
GAME 1 | Maryville 15, Hillsdale 10
Despite the Saints scoring three runs in the third, the game remained relatively quiet until the back half of the contest. Ty Rauser, getting the start on the mound, was electric, punching out 10 over six innings to the tune of seven hits and two earned runs.
 
After those two runs by the Chargers, the Saints saw the first of two grand slams in the sixth, the first coming off the bat of Gould, taking a 1-0 fastball deep over the left center wall for the 7-2 lead.
 
The Chargers ran right back at the Saints, using two three-run home runs of their own to score six in the top of the seventh, taking their first lead of the day.
 
Baseball is a fickle game as with the momentum looking to live in the Chargers dugout, the Saints answered with an eight-run bottom of the seventh. Aaris Stolte got it going with an RBI fielder's choice, which Matt Arnold then turned to a 2 RBI double. A hit by pitch and two walks loaded the bases and scored a run, giving Cole Christman the opportunity to blast his second homer of the season, and his first grand slam as a Saint, making it 15-8.
 
Hillsdale added another homer, this coming with a runner on, in the eighth to find the final score of 15-10. Alex Bryan, despite giving up the bomb, came up big with two innings of work in relief.
 
GAME 2 | ESU 18, MARVYILLE 5
High-scoring baseball continued as the Saints surrendered five runs in the top of the third. An Ambrose Russo RBI double marked a small response for the Saints in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Hornets kept letting the runs fly as they unleashed 13 more before the Saints could answer with a four spot in the bottom of the seventh to try to keep the game alive. Gould, in a pinch-hit spot, hit his second bomb of the day, another one to left center for his second home run of his young career.
 
UP NEXT
The Saints stay at home, battling Missouri Western on March 11, at 2 p.m. from Weber Baseball Field.
 
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