Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Tougaloo, Miss. - The Marian Baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader against Tougaloo College, losing the first game before run-ruling the second game. The Knights are now 4-5 overall for the season following the Saturday split. 

Game 1 | Marian 6-10 Tougaloo | 7 Innings

The Knights got a slow start offensively in game one against the Bulldogs, yielding a run in the home half of the first inning before gaining their footing in the top of the second. A Johnny Roeder single into center field got the bats rolling, allowing Bryce Davenport to score a run who began the inning reaching on an error. Roeder then scored a run on a misplayed grounder by the Bulldogs bringing the score 2-1 in favor of the Knights.

The Knights continued to bring the energy into the top of the third inning with Ryan Huntley hitting a single into right field that allowed Pierson Barnes to score. Barnes provided a spark with two-out hitting, posting a single and stolen base before scoring on the Huntley base knock. Marian led 3-1 going into the home half of the third, but the lead faded as the Bulldogs caught up in the bottom of the frame, as a couple hits to center field brought the score to an even 3-3.

Marian didn't wait long to get the runs back as the fourth inning rolled around, with Jacob Dill ripping a shot into left field to land his first career homer, as the two-run homerun jumped Marian back into the lead by a 5-3 score. Marian's lead would carry into the fifth inning, but the two-run margin was not enough to lead after five complete as the pitching fell apart for the guests, as Tougaloo plated seven runs in the home off of starter Chris Adams and relievers Jace Stoops and Justin Johnson, with the score at the end of the inning showing a 10-6 lead for the home team.

Kameron Salazar and company attempted to recoup the runs in the top of the sixth inning, but an RBI ground out from the second baseman would be all the offense could produce, scoring the sixth run for Marian. The Knights would manage to get one runner on base in their last chance in the top of the seventh, but came up empty as they fell 10-6 in game one.

Chris Adams pitched four innings giving up five hits and six runs while also striking out five batters, as he suffered his second loss of the season. Stoops and Johnson combined to record the final six outs for Marian, with Johnson allowing two hits in his 1.2 innings of work. Roeder led the Knights at the plate with two hits, with five other players recording a base hit. Dill had a team-best two RBI with his first career home run.

Game 2 | Marian 16-2 Tougaloo | 5 Innings

In game two of the series, the Knights took advantage of the poor pitching on the Bulldogs part, as the home pitching staff allowed nine runs on four hits to provide an early Marian lead. Kameron Salazar and Nathan Pinarski led off the game with back to back walks, and a two-RBI single for Bryce Davenport plated the pair of runners. More walked and hit batters continued to fill the bases for Marian in the top of the first, and after an RBI single for Cole McManus and walk drawn by Max Steffen, the offense had forced a pitching change leading 5-0. The Knights batted around in the frame and plated four more runs, with Dawson Estep, Salazar, and Rylan Huntley chalking up RBI before the end of the frame.

Leading 9-0 after three outs of baseball, the Knights would struggle to pitch a shutout home frame as starter Logan Drook was hit around in the first, allowing two runs on three hits and a pair of walks. Drook would settle after getting the third out of the inning, getting two more runs of support in the top of the second as McManus and Pierson Barnes scored. The Marian sophomore faced the minimum to pitch his first scoreless inning of the contest to end the second inning with an 11-2 lead, with an additional run going on the board in the third as Johnny Roeder knocked in Rylan Huntley on an RBI hit. 

Marian led 12-2 going into the bottom of the third, and would add four more runs in the fourth inning to drive their total to 16 for the game, as the Bulldogs allowed one hit while committing two errors to boost the Knight total. Drook pitched well for the remainder of the game, tossing scoreless innings in the third, fourth, and fifth to protect the 16-2 lead. With Marian leading by 14 after five complete innings, the game was called with Marian scoring a run-rule victory.

Drook earned his first win on the year on the mound, allowing six hits in his five-inning complete game. The sophomore struckout seven batters and allowed two runs, facing 24 batters on the day. Huntely, Roeder, and McManus each had two hits for Marian in the win, and Pinarski scored a team-leading three runs.

Marian continues on their four-game stretch against Tougaloo College tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. CT.

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