Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Spring Arbor, Mich. - A beaten and injured Marian baseball team suffered a pair of losses against Spring Arbor Tuesday afternoon, as the Cougars closed the season series with a sweep in Michigan. The Knights fall to 11-13 overall on the season following the two losses, and 5-7 in Crossroads League play.

GAME 1 | Marian 9-10 Spring Arbor

Spring Arbor plated the first run of the opening act Tuesday with a first inning score, as an error led to the rare run allowed by Marian ace Damien Wallace. The error with two outs led to an RBI double providing the 1-0 lead, but Marian closed the frame and retaliated with two runs in the top of the second, getting a lead-off walk from Bryce Davenport. Marian would load the bases on a double from AJ Bordenet and a wild pitch that connected against Caden Jones, setting up Caden Mason who delivered a two-RBI single to drive the Knights in front 2-1. 

Marian's lead did not stick long as Spring Arbor plated three runs off of Wallace in the home half of the second, opening the frame with two base hits. An error helped plate two runs following a fielder's choice ground out, as Spring Arbor ended the second with a 4-2 lead. Marian responded in the third with Jackson Hogg leading off a four-run frame, singling to start the inning. A JJ Rivera single gave Marian an additional base runner, with Bordenet clearing the bags after racking his second double of the game. Aaron Hunter and Trey Heidlage added RBI hits before the inning closed, seeing Marian vault back on top 6-4.

Wallace returned to form in the third by retiring the Cougars in order, and in the fourth the Marian ace faced four batters in a hitless frame. Bordenet helped pick up run support for the starter in the fifth by drawing a lead-off walk, coming around to score off the bat of Heidlage. The run pushed Marian's lead to 7-4, which would stand going into the bottom of the fifth as Wallace closed his day with a quick three-up, three-down inning. Spring Arbor would tag Wallace for one final run in the sixth inning, getting a pair of hits to end the frame trailing 7-5.

The Knights were unable to add run support as Wallace exited, and in the seventh Daniel Brenneman was roughed up, as two errors following a lead-off home run allowed Spring Arbor to tie the game. The score stood static at 7-7 going into the ninth, until Marian broke their silence with a two-run charge. Bordenet kept his strong streak going with a lead-off single, and scored two batters later an Mason's RBI fielder's choice. Hunter continued his big day with an RBI single, driving Marian in front 9-7 before the inning's end. 

Brenneman was tasked with getting through the ninth and locking down the win, but was unable to after giving up a lead-off single. Brenneman would get a strikeout for the first out of the inning, but between the right-hander and next reliever Michael Mates, Marian failed to close the win as the two pitchers combined to allow four consecutive base runners, allowing the Cougars to push their run total to 10 and walk-off the game with a 10-9 win.

Marian had three-multi hit games in the loss, with Bordenet and Jones each going 3-4 at the dish. Hunter finished the game 2-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI. Wallace took a no-decision throwing six innings, while Brenneman and Mates combined to throw the final 2.1 innings.

GAME 2 | Marian 5-11 Spring Arbor.

The Knights wasted no time in an attempt to wash the taste of the defeat out of their mouths in game two, getting a jolt from a lead-off solo shot launched by Trey Heidlage. Heidlage's home run gave Marian a quick 1-0 lead, but the offense didn't click as the side retired after the deep ball, and in the second inning Spring Arbor reclaimed the lead as a double and home run off of Craig Nixon put the home team in front 2-1. 

Nixon settled in after allowing the home run getting a strikeout to close the first inning, and in the second inning the senior fanned a pair of Cougars, setting up the Marian offense in the third. Back-to-back walks drawn by Hunter and Heidlage started the third, and an RBI double from Jackson Hogg tied the game. Hogg and Heidlage came around to score two batters after the hit on a double from Caden Jones, as Marian soared in front 4-2. The Knights lead, like in the first game, would be short-lived, as the early inning offense was matched by a four-spot set by Spring Arbor in the home half of the third, as the Cougars pulled in front 6-4 after Nixon allowed four hits in the inning.

Marian would be held scoreless in the fourth, while in the home half of the inning Spring Arbor managed to drive in three runs against Justin Johnson, as a triple following a hit batter and walk scored two of the three. The charge put the Cougars in the lead by a 9-4 margin, as they would not look back and held the advantage for the remainder of the game. The Knights would score a run in the fifth as Kameron Salazar rounded the bases on a walk, a second Jones double, and a wild pitch, but Spring Arbor would answer with two runs off of Taylor Soper in the sixth, sealing the 11-5 victory.

Nixon suffered the loss lasting three innings on the hill, while Johnson threw two complete innings in relief. Heidlage and Jones were the lone Knights with multi-hit games, as the two combined for five of the six base hits recorded by Marian in the loss. 

The Knights will look to snap their losing streak this weekend when they take on Grace College. The series is scheduled for Friday March 24 and Saturday March 25 in Winona Lake. 

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