FAYETTE, Iowa - Peacock baseball (11-13, 4-3 GLVC) fell in both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Maryville (Mo.) (13-10, 7-0 GLVC) on Saturday, 9-4 and 10-5. Gabe Bombardier and JJ Vargas highlighted the day with home runs for UIU.
Thane Meiners led UIU on the day in batting, going 3-for-7 with a walk and two RBIs. Cael Luzum, Vargas and Gabe Bombardier each had two hits. Vargas totaled two RBIs, and Gabe Bombardier had four RBIs. Brock Zimmer had a hit and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Kyle Hrncir and Dylan Hesch took their first losses of the season on the mound in their starts. Hrncir tied Ethan Bombardier with a team-high four strikeouts. Carson Dupuis pitched two innings of relief in game two, allowing two hits with a walk and tallying four strikeouts.
UIU and Maryville wrap up the series with game four on Sunday at Robertson Woods Field. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
Game One: Maryville 9, Upper Iowa 4
Both teams got the scoring going early, each scoring four runs in the first inning. Maryville scored its four runs on four hits, including a 2RBI double by Steven Schneider.
Luzum and Meiners singled to start the bottom of the inning, and Zimmer brought Luzum home on a sacrifice fly. After a single by Vargas, Gabe Bombardier hit a three-run homer to tie the game at 4-4.
Maryville kept scoring in the bottom of the second, using a fielding error, a single and a walk to load the bases. Brady Kindhart doubled down the left field line, bringing in three runs for a 7-4 advantage.
The Saints added two more runs in the third after a Jack Meyer two-run homer. There were only three hits the rest of the game, with two by the Saints. UIU got two runners on in the fifth inning after a couple of two-out hit-by-pitches, but were unable to convert.
Luzum and Meiners each had two hits, with Luzum hitting a double in the bottom of the second. Meiners had a single in the first and seventh innings. Gabe Bombardier, Vargas and Hunter Jones each had a hit.
Dylan Hesch took the loss on the mound after pitching 1.2 innings and allowing seven runs with four earned. Ethan Bombardier pitched 3.1 innings in relief, allowing one earned run and throwing a team-high four strikeouts. Dupuis pitched the final two innings, throwing two strikeouts while allowing a hit and a walk.
Maryville outhit the Peacocks, 10-7, and UIU had two errors to the Saints' one. MU left nine runners on base and UIU left seven. The Saints walked six times while the Peacocks walked once.
Game Two: Maryville 10, Upper Iowa 5
The Saints scored in the first inning on a walk and three wild pitches. After Meiners walked, Gabe Bombardier brought him home with a two-out RBI single to left center to tie the game at 1-1 after an inning.
The game remained 1-1 until the fourth inning, when Justin Gorski hit an RBI single for the Saints and gave them a 2-1 lead. Maryville added two more runs on a double, an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for the 4-1 advantage.
Maryville scored three runs in the sixth inning on four walks, three hit-by-pitches and a double. UIU ended a four-inning hitless streak with a Zimmer single in the sixth inning. Vargas then smacked a two-run homer to left field to trail, 8-3.
A Dominic Sharp two-run homer in the seventh put the lead back to seven runs at 10-3. After Jones wore a pitch, Klug doubled to left center in the seventh, and Meiners brought them both in with a 2RBI single to cut the lead to 10-5 with one out on the board. Back-to-back strikeouts by MU pitcher Collin Greiner ended the game.
Meiners had a hit and a walk, while Zimmer, Vargas, Gabe Bombardier and Klug each had a hit. Vargas smacked a home run and Klug had a double.
Hrncir took the loss on the mound after the start, allowing four earned runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out a team-high four batters. Dalton Dibert and Jaxon Valdez both had two strikeouts in relief.
Maryville outhit Upper Iowa, 8-5, and each team had an error. The Saints had nine walks at the plate while Upper Iowa had two walks. Brayden Rubel got his second win of the year for MU after throwing four strikeouts and pitching six innings.
