Winona Lake, Ind. - The Marian baseball team lost the final two games of their season series against Grace College on Monday afternoon, as the Lancers swept the Knights in the pair of games rescheduled from March 25. Grace's pair of wins over the Knights drops the team's record to 13-19 on the season and 7-13 in Crossroads League contests.

Game 1 | Grace 17-6 Marian | 8 Innings

Grace jumped on the Knights early in the opening game of the day, driving home four runs in the first two innings off of starter Taylor Soper. Soper, making his first start since the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, was able to hold the Lancers to just one in the first frame as an unearned run crossed the plate, but in the third was not as successful a pair of errors aided the Lancers in scoring their three runs. Marian was able to scratch back at the four run hole in the top of the third as Trey Heidlage and JJ Rivera ripped a pair of RBI doubles, but the scoring dried up as two Knights were stranded on base.

In the bottom of the third inning, Grace would respond and begin to blow the game open striking for a pair of runs against Soper as the southpaw allowed a lead-off homerun to Sam Newkirk, while a walk to Austin Carr in the next at bat would turn into a run after Grace played small ball to score a run. Soper ended his outing after the third, and in the fourth and fifth Grace added three runs in each frame, as Ethan Davis gave up the fourth inning three-spot, and Justin Johnson allowed the three runs in the fifth. 

Trailing 12-2, Marian fought back and managed to claw four runs against the Lancers in the top of the sixth inning, with Josh Lamb driving home JJ Rivera with an RBI double after Rivera was pelted with a pitch. Caden Mason and Dawson Estep would walk to load the bases, and after a pitching change Kameron Salazar ripped a one-out single to left to score Johnny Roeder. Mason and Estep would both come around to score on wild pitches to make it a 12-6 game, but the Knights came up short of adding more runs as a fly out and strikeout ended the inning. 

The Lancers would add two more runs to their total to answer Marian's offense in the bottom of the sixth to capture an eight-run lead, but were held scoreless for the first time in the seventh inning as Aden Burnside pitched a scoreless inning in his collegiate debut. In the eighth however, Burnside was unable to pick up the third out after his two lead-off walks were caught stealing, allowing two singles before facing Jeff Pawlik, who ripped a three-run home run to right field to walk-off the game and run-rule Marian. 

Soper fell to 1-1 on the year after suffering the loss, pitching three innings while giving up six total runs. The southpaw pitcher would record two of Marian's three strikeouts on the day. At the plate, Heidlage and Lamb each had two of Marian's six hits, both going 2-5 with an RBI and a double. 

Game 2 | Grace 4-3 Marian

In the second act Chris Adams made the start on the hill, and struggled through the first inning as he made his first start since March 16. The redshirt-freshman fell behind as he gave up a lead-off single and walk, seeing a run score on a Jeff Pawlik base hit. Sam Newkirk would hit a two-run homerun to end the inning with Grace leading 3-0, but after the first the pitcher settled in, facing four batters in a scoreless second inning and retiring the side in order in the third. 

Marian's offense was unable to get going until the fourth inning in the second game, as two men were left on base in the top of the first, while in the second and third Marian went down in order. The tide changed in the fourth as Trey Heidlage would lead off with a double, and Caden Jones followed with a single through the left side. Johnny Roeder tagged an RBI sacrifice fly to bring home the second baseman, but that would be the lone run scored as consecutive infield ground balls ended the inning. 

Grace would match with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth Adams issued three free passes to begin the inning, but got out of the jam with a flyout to right field and a pair of infield outs. Marian would trim one run off the lead in the fifth inning as Kameron Salazar and Jackson Hogg roped back to back doubles ot inch closer, and Adams tossed a flawless home half inning to keep the game a 4-2 score, ending his day after five innings of work.

Joe Nelan held the score at 4-2 as he relieved in the sixth with a three-up, three-down frame, as the southpaw tossed a pair of strikeouts. In the seventh inning Marian began a rally as Bryce Davenport belted a lead-off double, forcing Grace to activate their bullpen and make a pitching change. Max Steffen rallied with a double to left-center, as he traded places with Davenport and made the game a 4-3 contest. Kameron Salazar would reach on a walk to continue the inning, but a foul out and strikeout following a pitching change would end the game, as Marian came up short with the tying run on second. 

The Knights recorded eight hits as a team in game two, with Hogg posting the only two-hit game on the team. Marian had five doubles in the loss, with Hogg, Roeder, and Steffen picking up RBI. Adams took the loss in the game as he pitched five innings, allowing four hits and four runs. The righty struckout two batters in his outing, matching the number of strikeouts by Nelan who threw a perfect sixth. 

Marian will continue their road trip on Friday as they travel to Bethel University to open a four-game series with the Pilots. 

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