Eric Schemmel made his first start on the mound a good one for the Xavier Saints Wednesday night.

Schemmel allowed only four hits in six innings as the Saints topped Clinton, 5-2, in a non-conference ballgame at Ken Charipar Field.

The Saints (13-9) scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the third. Schemmel made them stand up, with relief from Mitch Keller in the final frame.

“It was my first start and I was nervous at first, but I settled in and as long as I kept hitting my spots and my team was making the plays, it went fine,” said Schemmel, a junior. “I really had to focus on keeping the ball down."

Jordan Ratz went 2-for-3 for Xavier with an RBI double in the first inning and an RBI triple in the third.

“It felt good to keep the hitting going," said Ratz. “I went up there looking for a good pitch to hit and they gave me two.”

Adam Ebensberger touched Schemmel for a two-run double in the third inning for Clinton (12-11), but that was it for the River King offense.

“Eric pitched well,” said Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel, who is Eric Schemmel’s uncle. “The key was that he threw strikes and didn’t walk a batter. We got some timely hits and that was what it took.”

Xavier visits Jefferson Friday for a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at 5 p.m.

CLINTON (2)
Morehead, dh/1b, 3 1 1 0, Ebensberger, c, 2 0 1 2, Judge, 3 0 0 0, Driscoll cf, 2 0 0 0, Collender, lf, 2 0 0 0, Stumbaugh, ss/p, 3 0 1 0, A.Caldwell, p/ss, 3 0 1 0, D.Caldwell, 3b, 3 1 0 0, Nolan, 1b, 3 0 0 0. Totals 26 2 4 2.

XAVIER (5)
Grimm, cf, 4 0 0 0, Woods, ss, 4 0 1 0, Pick, dh, 3 1 0 0, Schemmel, p, 0 0 0 0, Keller, p, 0 0 0 0, Mattke, 1b, 4 1 1 0, Brown, 3b, 2 1 1 1, Ratz, rf, 3 2 2 2, Meaney, lf, 3 0 1 0, Hammerberg, c, 2 0 1 0, Helms, c, 0 0 0 0, St. Andrews, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Tipton, 2b, 0 0 0 0. Totals 27 5 7 3.

Clinton    002 000 0 - 2 4 3
Xavier     302 000 x - 5 7 2

A. Caldwell, Stumbaugh (6) and Ebensberger; Schemmel, Keller (7) and Hammersberg, Helms (7).  W - Schemmel. L - A.Caldwell. S - Keller. 2B - Ebensberger, Ratz. 3B - Ratz.