ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T struggled to slow down Maryville's offensive attack in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener Saturday afternoon, as the Saints swept the doubleheader from S&T by scores of 14-4 and 12-5 at the S&T Ballpark.

Maryville got off to fast starts in both games – scoring three runs in the first inning of each contest – then broke away in the middle innings after the Miners had got back into the games.  The Saints hit six home runs in Saturday's doubleheader.

The Saints (9-14, 2-0 GLVC) jumped out to a 6-1 after two and one-half innings of play in game one – S&T scored a run in the second thanks to two Maryville errors – but the Miners (8-11, 0-2 GLVC) put three on the board in their half of the third to cut into the margin.

After Cameron Burk (Nacogdoches, TX/Cushing) was hit by a pitch and Matt Knickerbocker (Bayfield, CO/Bayfield) doubled to open the inning, Lucas Swindle (Weldon Spring, MO/Lutheran-St. Charles) drew a walk to load the bases.  Matt Gruse (Neenah, WI/Neenah) followed with an opposite field single to drive in the first two runs, then Swindle scored later in the frame on a hit by Connor Forsythe.

However, Maryville extended its lead in the fifth with a three-run outburst, highlighted by Garrett Taylor's two-run homer that made it 9-4. The Saints added on the margin with two runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth.

Maryville outhit S&T 16-8 in the opener; Forsythe had three of the eight hits.  The Miners struck out 15 times in the game, 10 of them coming against starter Andrew Peters.  Dan Borek (Greenville, WI/Hortonville) took the loss on the mound for S&T.

The Saints got out to a fast start in game two as well, scoring three runs in the opening inning off Anthony Garza (Belleviille, IL/Belleville East) on Dalton Schumer's three-run homer, but the Miners came back to tie the score in the second on run-scoring hits off the bats of Forsythe, Drew Aldana (El Paso, TX/JM Hanks) and Burk.

But in the third, the Saints put three more on the scoreboard on a two-run homer by Connor Markell and an RBI double by Daniel Covert, then tacked on another in the fourth, three more in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a 12-3 lead.

The Miners scored twice in the ninth on an RBI single by Nathan Volkmann (Liberty, MO/Liberty) and a fielder's choice by Matt Miller (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) that scored Jack DeGarmo (Liberty, MO/Liberty North).

S&T was outhit 12-7 in the nightcap – Gruse had two hits for the Miners -- and committed five errors in the game.

The Miners and Saints will complete their series Sunday with a noon doubleheader at the S&T Ballpark.