INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian baseball team completed their first sweep of the season, as the Knights won both games Saturday to complete a four-game sweep against Spring Arbor. Marian's 5-4 and 11-8 victories move the team over .500 on the year, with Marian moving to 11-10 overall and 7-5 in the Crossroads League.

Game 1 | Marian 5-4 Spring Arbor
Game one was on a breakneck pace, and started with a pair of runs in the first inning for both teams, as the Cougars roughed Aden Burnside for two singles and the game's first run. Marian wasted no time to respond, getting a one-out double from Pierson Barnes to ignite the offense. Rylan Huntley followed with a laser to right-center, as his RBI triple brought in Barnes to level the score 1-1. 

Burnside and John Hojnowski locked horns in the second and matched each other with three-up, three-down frames, while a double play helped the Knights' southpaw face the minimum in the top of the third. Marian managed to get the lead back in the bottom of the third, as a Dawson Estep single started an inning, with small ball efforts from Kameron Salazar and Barnes helping manufacture the 2-1 lead. 

The game would move back to a draw in the top of the fourth inning as a lead-off walk would come in to score, but a double play to the aid of Burnside would help the second-year pitcher out of the inning. Continuing to answer each of Spring Arbor's scores, Marian drove in a run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead, as Bryce Davenport scored from second on a short double hit by Johnny Roeder. The score would hold at 3-2 going into the sixth as Burnside tossed a pair of scoreless innings entering the home side, and the pitcher gained two more runs of support as Caden Mason and Estep collected RBI base hits to give the team a three-urn lead.

Burnside worked out of trouble in the top of the seventh inning as he stranded two runners, and pitched into the top of the eighth inning, but gave up a pair of singles which led to the Cougars third run of the day. Burnside handed the ball over to Garrett West as the freshman came on in relief, and after allowing a pair of hits, West escaped the inning stranding runners on second and third while protecting the 5-4 lead. In the top of the ninth, the Knights turned the ball over to Deacon Spencer to record the final three outs of the game. After hitting the lead-off batter, Spencer settled in, forcing two flyouts and a groundout to close the win and complete Marian's 5-4 win. 

Estep led the Knights at the dish in the win with three of the team's nine hits, posting a 3-3 game with one RBI. Barnes, Huntley, Roeder, and Mason each had an RBI in the win. Burnside scored the win on the mound to move to 3-1 on the season, throwing into the eighth inning while allowing nine hits and four earned runs with two strikeouts. West gave up two hits as he held the lead, and Spencer tossed a hitless ninth inning to record his third save in as many games.

Game 2 | Marian 11-8 Spring Arbor
Seth Hogg got the ball in game two on the mound, but fell victim to early runs allowed like his teammate Burnside, as the freshman yielded three hits and a pair of runs in the first. Marian rebounded in the bottom of the second after Hogg pitched a scoreless second, with the Knights loading the bases on three hit batters. Kameron Salazar ripped an RBI single to get the Knights on the board, and following the first run four more touched the plate, as Pierson Barnes launched an opposite field grand slam to push Marian in front 5-2. 

The Knights would hold the lead for the remainder of the game, but would be challenged in the third as a pair of doubles helped the Cougars tack on two more against Marian. The 5-4 game wouldn't last long though, as Marian broke the game back open with a Bryce Davenport solo homerun extending the lead. Johnny Roeder and Josh Lamb kept the offense moving with consecutive base hits, and after a single from Caden Mason, Dawson Estep drew a bases loaded walk. Marian would manage one run as Salazar added a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 8-4 at the conclusion of the third.

Hogg tossed his second scoreless frame with a quick fourth inning, and got two more runs of support in the fourth with Lamb and Jacob Dill putting up RBI base hits. Marian led 10-4 after four complete, and would lead 11-6 entering the seventh, as Hogg was able to shake off a solo home run in the fifth and sixth innings, while an RBI single from Roeder in the sixth capped the Knights' scoring. The freshman Hogg was called on to complete the game on the hill, working around two doubles in the top of the seventh as just two of the four runners to reach base scored, ending the complete game effort in an 11-8 victory.

Marian had 14 hits in the series finale, with three of them of the extra-base variety coming on the home runs of Barnes and Davenport and Dill's double. Lamb led Marian with a three-hit outing, while Salazar, Barnes, Huntley, and Roeder each finished with two hits. On the mound, Hogg moved to 3-1 on the year, throwing all seven innings with 10 hits and eight runs allowed. Hogg recorded four strikeouts.

Marian is next scheduled to play on Friday, March 22, as they open a four-game series with Grace College.

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