Princeton, Ind. - The Marian baseball team saw their five-game win streak come to an end on Sunday afternoon, as the Knights fell twice in the latter innings of a doubleheader to Oakland City. The two losses drop Marian to 5-4 overall on the season.
Game 1 | Marian 4-7 Oakland City
Marian stole the first run of the game in the top of the first, as Trey Heidlage was hit by a pitch and swiped second base within the first eight pitches of the game. Heidlage moved into scoring position on a groundout, while Rylan Huntley batted in his teammate with an RBI groundout. Joe Nelan protected the lead with two strikeouts in the first inning, but struggled in the second as he gave up a two-run home run. Nelan would get out of the inning with a lineout, but not before allowing a third run on a sacrifice fly.
The Knights tied the game up in the third inning, giving their pitcher instant support as Max Steffen led off with a single, while Heidlage followed with a base hit of his own. The Mighty Oaks outfield committed an error on a fly ball hit by Jackson Hogg, allowing courtesy runner Dawson Estep to score, while Heidlage scored one batter later on Huntley's sacrifice fly. With the game tied at three, Nelan fell into a groove, scattering a single in the third, while tossing a perfect fourth frame. Nelan would exit the game after stranding two runners in the bottom of the fifth, with his reliever Will Isom escaping a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth to keep the score tied at three.
In the top of the seventh the Knights found a way to push ahead, as Heidlage reached on an error and took second on a bunt. Huntley kept his hot bat alive as he picked up his second RBI with a single, pushing Marian on top 4-3. Isom settled in during the home half of the seventh, as the freshman tossed a pair of strikeouts to protect the lead. Isom's run of success ran out in the bottom of the eighth, as he allowed a walk and hit a batter before giving up the game-tying RBI base hit. Taylor Soper came on in relief of Isom to attempt to protect the tie, but the senior gave up two walks and a base hit, allowing Oakland City to plate three additional runs to take a 7-4 lead.
Marian went down swinging, loading the bases with back to back one-out singles from Heidlage and Hogg. Huntley drew a walk to juice the bases, but back to back strikeouts closed the game in the 7-4 loss.
In the loss the Knights out-hit the Mighty Oaks 8-7, with Heidlage posting two. Huntley had two RBI in the loss, and Heidlage scored three of the four team runs. Nelan did not factor into the decision as he struckout four and allowed five hits over 5.0 innings on the mound, while Isom suffered the loss going 2.1 innings.
Game 2 | Marian 2-4 Oakland City | 8 Innings
Looking to rebound, Damien Wallace gave the Knights a chance as he started strong with two consecutive scoreless innings. In the third inning Wallace notched two early outs, but an error prolonged the frame. A stolen base and the first walk of the game put two in position to score, as a double allowed both runs to score and provide Oakland City a 2-0 lead.
Marian's offense continued their stagnant start stranding a runner in the fourth inning, but in the fifth found a rhythm as Johnny Roeder led off with a walk. Estep followed with a single, and a sacrifice bunt put both runners in a scoring position. The Knights were able to get one run out of the inning, as Heidlage recorded an RBI as he reached on an error. Wallace kept his team in the game with the score cut in half by throwing perfect fifth and sixth innings, and in the seventh the offense got started again by a Roeder walk. Estep moved his teammate to second on a groundout, and Heidlage delivered the offense power with an RBI single to tie the game.
Unable to add to their lead, Marian stuck with Wallace for the home half of the seventh to try and force extras. The righty picked up a strikeout and two groundouts, successfully sending the game into extras after seven complete innings. In the top of the eighth the Knights got two runners on as Bryce Davenport drew a walk and AJ Bordenet picked up a single, but a strikeout ending the trip to the plate. In the bottom, Logan Drook took over on the hill, and picked up two strikeouts around a base hit. Drook was in position to get out of the inning, but left a pitch over the plate for Sam Pinckert who drilled a two-run home run to walk-off the Knights in extra innings.
Marian again out-hit Oakland City in the loss, picking up five hits to their opposition's four, with five different players picking up a hit. Roeder scored both of Marian's runs, and Wallace earned a no-decision on the mound striking out 10 batters while allowing two hits in seven innings.
Marian will play their final non-conference weekend of the season this coming week, as they are scheduled to host Concordia (Mich.) on Saturday and Sunday for a three game series.
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