ST. JOSEPH, MO – Record-setting individual performances by Rhett Chisholm and Bryce Leafgren and by the University of Mary baseball team allowed the visiting Marauders to outlast Missouri Western 26-22.
 
UMary tied the school record for runs scored in a single game and broke the school mark for hits and runs batted in. Making just his second career start, Chisholm broke the Marauders NCAA single game record for runs batted in with eight. Leafgren tied the school NCAA record for hits in a single game with five.
 
The combined 48 runs scored is also a Marauders baseball record. Additionally the 48 runs scored is an NCAA Division II season high, easily exceeding the previous total of 42.
 
In a game that clocked in at four hours and 26 minutes, UMary bashed out 26 hits and recorded 26 RBIs in the nine inning non-conference contest. The previous school record for hits (24) and RBIs (25) came in a 26-14 UMary victory at Southern Nazarene February 14, 2023.
 
UMary's previous individual NCAA record for RBIs in a game was seven by Carter Beck (vs. Minnesota State 2024) and Derek Schoen (at Augustana 2023). Leafgren is the 7^th UMary player with five hits in an NCAA game, a feat last accomplished by Josh Walker last season against the University of Sioux Falls.
 
Additionally Carter Shin reached base seven times in what may also be a UMary record. Shin had three hits, three walks and was hit by a pitch. He finished the day 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBIs.
 
The top six players in the UMary lineup all scored at least three times, had at least three hits and a minimum of two RBIs. The combined totals for those six slots was 21 hits in 35 at bats, 21 runs, scored and 16 RBIs.
 
The Marauders started fast as leadoff hitter Kieran Gaffney homered to left center. UMary scored seven runs in the top of the first but trailed 8-7 at the end of the inning.
 
Keyed by a 3-run home run by Chisholm, who had walked with the bases loaded in the first inning for his first RBI of the day, UMary scored seven runs again in the second to retake the lead. A redshirt freshman from Mission Vijeo, CA, Chisholm delivered a 2- run single in the fourth inning to push UMary's lead to 17-10. A sacrifice fly by Chisholm in the 5^th capped a 4-run inning for UMary to make the Marauders advantage 21-12.
 
After the Griffins closed within 21-16, another Chisholm bases loaded walk to drive in his eighth run of the day game provided UMary a 24-16 lead in the sixth.
 
With Missouri Southern continuing to chip away at the lead, home runs in the seventh by Kalem Haney and Leafgren closed out the UMary scoring while pushing the Marauders advantage to 26-19.
 
The Griffins tacked on single runs in each of the final three innings. The game ended in the ninth when Carson Green, who had doubled to left, was tagged out at third base by Gaffney on a throw by Shin.
 
UMary compiled 42 baserunners on 26 hits, 11 walks and four hit batters. Missouri Southern posted 20 hits, gained nine walks and had three batters hit by a pitch.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kieran Gaffney 3-for-5, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI
• Kalem Haney 4-for-7, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI
• Noah Hull 3-for-6, 2B, 4 R, 2 RBIs
• Bryce Leafgren 5-for-7, 2B, HR, 4 R, 3 RBIs
• Carter Shin, 3-for-4, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 4 R, 3 RBIs
• Riley Pearce, 3-for-6, 3 R, 3 RBIs
• Marcus Butts 1-for-4, 2 HBP, 2 R, 1 RBI
• Rhett Chisholm 2-for-4, 2 R, 8 RBIs, HR, 2 BB
• Luke Rhee 2-for-7 1 R, 1 RBI
• Mo West's Anthony Taggert had three runs scored and three RBIs and three other players combined for five runs and RBIs

 
STAT OF THE GAME
All 26 UMary (4-5 overall) runs were earned and only three of Missouri Western's (1-10 overall) 22 runs were unearned.
 
UP NEXT
UMary opens up Northern Sun play with a four-game neutral site set over three days against Minnesota State University. The games are scheduled for Friday, February 28, through Sunday, March 2, at the Elkhorn Legion Field in Omaha, NE.  Friday's game is set for 2 pm. A doubleheader on Saturday starts at 1:30 pm. The weekend concludes with a single game Sunday at 12 noon.
 
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