Thomas
Terry Griffin
5
Winner Maryville (Mo.) MU 19-10, 13-0 GLVC
3
Drury DU 17-13, 8-5 GLVC
Winner
Maryville (Mo.) MU
19-10, 13-0 GLVC
5
Final
3
Drury DU
17-13, 8-5 GLVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Maryville (Mo.) MU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 9 2
Drury DU 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 13 0

W: Blake Sivak (4-1) L: Dixon, Markell (0-3) S: Collin Greiner (5)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Eric Doennig, Associate AD - Media Relations

Maryville Rallies to Take Series Opener From Panthers, 5-3

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Maryville rode a three-run, eighth-inning rally and a shutdown effort from its bullpen to a 5-3 comeback victory over Drury baseball in the opening contest of the two clubs' Great Lakes Valley Conference series Thursday evening at Mark Worley Field at Meador Park.

The Saints (19-10, 13-0 GLVC) erased a 3-2 deficit in the top of the eighth, as Dominic Anselmo's RBI-single tied the game and Brady Kindhart delivered a two-out, two-run single to put Maryville on top to stay.

With the victory, the Saints ran their GLVC win streak to 13-straight games to open the conference season, stopping the Panthers' four-game win streak in the process.

Drury (17-13, 8-5 GLVC) seized its lone lead of the night with a two-run sixth, as Logan Reidelberger's fourth home run of the season -- a solo shot to right to open the inning -- and Colin McClure's run-scoring single to center with two out put the Panthers in front, 3-2.

DU appeared to be in control of what developed into a series-opening pitcher's duel, with Maryville's Braeden Sunken and the Panthers' Kaleb Thomas going toe-to-toe through six innings. Thomas fanned a career-high 10 hitters and scattered two runs on six hits while issuing just one walk over 7.0 innings, and Sunken allowed just three DU runs on 10 hits in his 5 2/3 frames. The junior righty fanned two in the first inning, before striking out the side in the third and two more hitters in the seventh.

The only offense in the first half of the game occurred in the third inning, with Maryville plating the contest's first two runs on Anselmo's two-out single, following singles by Justin Gorski and Jace Burton. Drury responded immediately in the home half of the third when back-to-back hits by McClure and Jackson Edwards opened the inning, and a sacrifice bunt by Landon Willbrand set up Luke Matschiner's RBI-bouncer to short to slice the MU lead to 2-1.

Matschiner would swipe his 20th base of the season to move into scoring position, but a strikeout ended the threat and stranded the first of 11 runners left on base by the Panthers. Sunken stranded two more DU runners in the fourth and one in the fifth, before yielding to his bullpen.

From that point, the contest would come down to the bullpens, with Saints reliever Blake Sivak (4-1) taking over with two on and two out in the sixth. The right-hander extinguished DU's threat with a strikeout, then worked around two-out hits by Reidelberger and Connor Bain in the seventh, coaxing an inning-ending fly ball to center.

After Burton's leadoff triple to right-center sparked the Saints' pivotal rally in the top of the eighth, Sivak would derail another Drury opportunity in the bottom half of the inning. With a pair of Panthers on base, he induced a comebacker to the mound for the final out, once again thwarting a DU scoring opportunity and preserving the 5-3 Maryville lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jackson Crider worked a 10-pitch walk from Collin Greiner, who then won another 10-pitch battle, this time coaxing a fly ball to center from Reidelberger for the first out of the inning. The right-handed submariner fanned Bain for the second out, before freezing Greydon Miller on a called third strike to seal the game and his fifth save of the season.

Reidelberger led the Panthers with three hits, combining with Bain and Miller to go 7-for-15 on the night.

Anselmo paced the Maryville attack with a 2-for-4 effort and three RBIs, while the duo of Sivak and Greiner combined to toss 3 1/3 shutout innings of relief, allowing just three hits while striking out four Panthers.

LOOKING AHEAD
Drury and Maryville will continue their four-game series Friday (April 3) with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Mark Worley Field.

For all the latest information on Drury baseball, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on X and Instagram.

#OneDrury
Print Friendly Version