Tougaloo, Miss. - The Marian baseball team salvaged a split in their series finale doubleheader against Tougaloo College, winning game two in a dominant style after falling in game one in extra innings. Marian moves to 5-6 overall on the season following the split.

GAME 1 | Marian 2-3 Tougaloo | 8 Innings

After a scoreless first inning of baseball, the Knights offense got to work in the second frame as Johnny Roeder was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Pierson Barnes reached base on an error on his sacrifice bunt, but would not score on Josh Lamb's triple later in the frame after getting picked off. Lamb was able to drive home Roeder with his three-base hit, and an RBI single from Dawson Estep pushed across the catcher to cap the two-run inning.

Seth Hogg made his second pitching start of the season in Sunday's opener, tossing a scoreless first inning to strand a runner, while in the second and third innings facing just seven combined batters to keep his shutout alive. The offense attempted to back up the starter in the third and fourth innings by getting runners on base, but came up empty in their attempts. In the home side of the fourth, Tougaloo was able to plate a run off of Hogg as the freshman's lead-off walk and single to start the inning scored a Bulldog run. 

The Knights would attempt to get the run back in the fifth with Kameron Salazar reaching third after ripping a lead-off single, but the offense came up short of adding a run. Hogg would manage to keep the one-lead through five innings after pitching a scoreless frame, however the freshman was unsuccessful in the bottom of the sixth as a lead-off double and single started a string of four consecutive runners to reach base, with a bases loaded walk tying the game. Hogg would snap out of his funk and managed to get a groundout and two strikeouts to prevent additional runs from crossing, keeping a tied 2-2 score.

Neither team was able to score in the seventh inning, with Marian stranding the bases full of Knights in the top half of the frame as they looked to plate a go-ahead run. In the bottom of the eighth, Marian changed to pitchers to reliever Hunter Reagan, who would walk his first batter. Reagan picked up a strikeout to claim his first out, but allowed a double to De'Everett Ross in the following at-bat, as the ball was hit deep enough to left to score the game-winning run as Marian suffered the 3-2 walk-off defeat.

Salazar led the Knights with hits as he had two of the six in the game, while Lamb and Estep each had an RBI. Hogg recorded a no-decision on the mound, allowing four hits and two runs in his outing, picking up seven strikeouts. Reagan took his first defeat on the season, recording one out before the Bulldogs recorded the game-ending hit.

GAME 2 | Marian 26-0 Tougaloo | 5 Innings

In Marian's second game, the Knights recorded a commanding 26-0 victory, scoring runs in each of the five innings as 19 different Knights saw action in the game. Seven runs crossed the plate in the first inning with Marian getting three hits, getting RBI base knocks from Dawson Estep and Pierson Barnes, while walks helped bring in the other scores. Following the seven-run first frame, nine more runs crossed the plate in the second inning as the Knights picked up five base hits. Barnes and Estep again had RBI hits, while Jacob Dill recorded an RBI sacrifice fly. Barnes would again post an RBI base hit in the inning, and a single from Josh Lamb helped the good guys scoring output.

Aden Burnside threw a near-flawless performance on the mound in his third start of the year, picking up the win after getting a strong start on the hill by tossing a hitless first inning. Burnside gave up a pair of hits in the second inning, but faced the minimum in the inning as each base runner was picked off and caught out. The southpaw's third inning was a quick three-up, three-down, as he picked up a strikeout, and in the fourth two singles were stranded as Burnside added a pair of punchouts to end the inning.

Marian scored three more runs in the third inning with a Nathan Pinarski single and Seth Hogg RBI double highlighting a frame, and in the fourth inning Marian added six more runs, as a Kayden Cain grand slam highlighted the final crooked number added to the board. The Knights would score again in the top of the fifth inning to complete their 26-run game, and in the bottom of the fifth Seth Risley finished the game on the hill, facing four batters in his relief appearance.

Burnside moved to 2-1 on the season with his performance, allowing four total hits in the game. Barnes and Estep each went 3-3 in the game with Barnes scoring three runs and Estep posting three RBI. Pinarski scored a game-high four runs and walked five times in six plate appearances, and Cain led the Knights in RBI with his first career home run.

Marian is currently scheduled to take on Goshen College on Thursday, hosting their Crossroads League opening games at 1:00 p.m. at MU Ballpark. With weather scheduled for the middle of the week, fans should stick to MUKnights on X, formerly known as Twitter, for any updates on the game.

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