Box Score The Maryville College Scots set the school record for most wins in a season on Saturday, while earning a spot in the USA South Championship game.
Maryville defeated Huntingdon College, 9-2, to earn their 29th win of the 2016 season. They will also play in Sunday's USA South Championship game at noon.
Today's win breaks the previous mark of 28 wins set in 1995 under then-head coach Eric Etchison.
"Our program is such a storied program – it's been around for 140 years," Head Coach Cody Church said.. There's been some great teams to come through here, and for this team to do it, it says a lot about this group of guys. I'm really happy for our guys, our team and our group of seniors. They've earned it. They've battled adversity all year, and I'm excited to see them get a record that's going to be held onto for a while."
However, it isn't the biggest game of their season.
Sunday's game carries so much weight, as Maryville looks for it's first-ever USA South Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in baseball.
"We know that the 30th is the one that we want," senior left-fielder Logan Jenkins said.
""It's the biggest one," Church continued. "You're only as good as you next game. It just so happens that tomorrow, it is the biggest one of the year. Technically, you're playing to go to a Regional [in the NCAA Tournament] and a conference championship. It'd be a great way to send some of these guys out – a way they deserve to go out."
For Maryville's group of 11 seniors – Zack Blonder, Chris Ervin, Seth Debity, Jeremy Ibarra, Lawson Wishard, Jacob Frost, Tyler Hopkins, Tyler Bigler, Tyler Hopkins, Zack May, Dan Oaklief and Jenkins – a chance at a NCAA Regional berth and a conference championship would fit them.
"This is our last go around," Jenkins said. "For the team, it's huge. We know that if we can just get there, we have a shot."
Maryville reaches the USA South Championship game in only three games, winning the top bracket. Other teams fell to the loser's bracket, facing possible elimination in the two-loss tournament.
For the Scots, that's a big key, as they come into tomorrow with more rest and a fresher bullpen.
"I think some of these teams have played seven or eight games," Church said. "It's easier, but it still comes down to players executing. It's nice, because we're a little more rested than some of these teams. Whoever wins this game isn't going to lay down, just because they came out of the loser's bracket. They're going to be hungry. We're still going to have to play good baseball."
Maryville (29-13) struck first, plating three runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth. Blonder scored on a wild pitch, before Ervin and Brendan Lawler were plated by RBI singled from Evan Ezell and Clifton Dempsey. The Scots led 3-0 after four.
Huntingdon (21-17) scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Cheston Wesson earned an RBI as Anthony Spivey scored, before Landon Sessions completed the sacrifice squeeze to score Jordan Criswell. Maryville led 3-2 after six innings.
Maryville scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh. Ezell found his third RBI with a two-RBI single to right. The ball scored Lawler and Logan Hayes for a 5-2 Maryville lead.
Again, the Scots plated runs in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs on three hits. Tyler Bigler got a bunt single to score Andrew Henry, before Patrick Messinger earned an RBI with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Ezell continued his dominance with a two-RBI shot to right, scoring Bigler and Blonder for a 9-2 final.
The Scots were led by Ezell's incredible 4-for-5, five-RBI afternoon, while Henry and Erven went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Lawler was 1-for-3 with two runs, while Blonder was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs. Bigler was 1-for-1 with a run and an RBI, while Dempsey earned an RBI with a 2-for-4 afternoon.
Wishard (4-1) got the win on the mound, pitching 5.1 innings. He allowed seven hits and only two runs, before Jerod Dickey closed the door with his first save. Dickey had 3.2 innings of work, scattering just three hits and no runs with two strikeouts.
Huntingdon saw Spivey got 3-for-4 with a run, while Josh Jackson and Josh Hines each went 2-for-4 for the Hawks.
For Maryville, though, tomorrow, it's all about playing their game, Church said.
"You can't let the moment ever get too big," he said. "At the end of the day, it is a game, as cliché as it sounds. There is a lot of emotion when there's a conference title on the line, but the team that can stay within themselves and not try to do too much, a lot of times, they will perform better in that moment."
