MARION, Ind. – The No. 17 Marian softball team extended its win streak to 23 games after picking up the huge sweep of No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan on Monday. The Knights improve their record to 23-1 overall and remain undefeated in Crossroads League play at 12-0.
Game 1 | Marian 2-0 Indiana Wesleyan
Game one started slow for the Marian offense, recording only two hits through the first five innings. The Wildcats picked up two hits in the bottom of the third off a pair of bunts, and would have scored the game's first two runs. However, the Wildcats batter stepped out of the box early, resulting in the strike out and no runs being record.
The Knights offense struck in the top of the sixth when Abby Madere hit the two-run single to score the first runs of the game, giving Marian the 2-0 lead with one and half innings to play.
Although the Marian offense started slow, Olivia Stunkel was cooking as she only gave up three hits and struck out four in the first five innings of play to keep her team ahead 2-0.
After a scoreless top of the seventh inning and the two-run lead at hand, Stunkel and the Marian defense needed to hold the host to pick up game one. Stunkel did just that as she struck out three straight batters to guide Marian to the 2-0 victory.
Stunkel was flawless in game with the sophomore dealing seven strikeouts and giving up zero runs, improving her record to 11-0 inside the circle. In Marian's four hits, Savannah Harweger led the way with three, while Madere had one huge hit and picking up the two RBI for the game's only runs.
Game 2 | Marian 8-3 Indiana Wesleyan
Marian took no time to get going in game two with a single to left field from Hayley Greene sent in Harweger to put the Knights up 1-0. Sydney Wilson shut down the Wildcats in straight order preserving the lead.
It was a battle of the defenses in the next two innings as each team recorded only one hit each. In the top of the fourth, Madere picked up where she left off in game one as she hit the two-run homer to give her team the 3-0 advantage. IWU put out the next three batters before scoring their first run of the day.
The Wildcats continued their offensive attack in the bottom of the fifth where they tacked on two more runs to tie the game at 3-3. Wilson would get out of the inning, leaving one runner on base. Both teams went scoreless in the sixth, leaving the scored locked at 3-3 going into the final inning of play.
In top half of the seventh inning, Marian fired back in aggressive fashion. Brooke Knox kicked things off with a single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Mackenzie Dalton and Anna Pritchett both walked to put bases loaded. Another walk and a single by Jenna Minnix put the Knights up 6-3, before a sac fly from Grace Meyer recorded another run for the Knights. Marian picked up one more run in the inning after executing on a wild pitch that saw Minnix score.
Holding the 8-3 lead going into the bottom half of the final inning, Wilson continued to do her thing as she went three up three down to help the Knights win game two and complete the sweep of the Wildcats.
Madere was excellent on the offensive end again, as she recorded a homerun, two RBI, and a hit. Harweger led with two hits, while Minnix, Greene, and Knox all registered a hit, while Minnix also added two RBI. Wilson pitched all seven innings, recording one strikeout, and allowing three runs as she improved to 10-0 on the year.
Marian will have a quick turnaround as they host Taylor tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. in a doubleheader.
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