INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian baseball team notched their third consecutive Crossroads League win with a game one victory over Spring Arbor, before falling in game two of the Friday doubleheader. Marian is 13-12 overall following the day's two contests, and 9-5 in Crossroads League action.

GAME 1 | Marian 14-4 Spring Arbor | 8 INNINGS
Marian fell behind in game one of the day after the first inning, as Spring Arbor managed ink a run against Davis Enfield in the top of the first inning. Enfield allowed three hits in the frame, but got the help of his defense with an inning ending double play to clean the inning. The defensive play helped Enfield settle in, as he retired back to back batters on strikes in the second inning as part of a quick three-up, three-down inning. 

In the bottom of the second, Marian's starter gained his run support as Max Steffen led off the inning with a triple to right-center, and scored two batters later on an RBI single from Calvin Miller. Miller quickly rounded the bases in the next plate appearance as Elijah Kelly slammed a double to center field, scoring from first to give Marian a 2-1 lead. Kelly would take third on a balk and score on a wild pitch, giving Marian a 3-1 lead by the end of the inning. In the third inning, the Knights would add four more runs to their total, with three coming home on Johnny Roeder's three-run home run to center field. Calvin Miller would single and later score on a balk following the home run, pushing Marian's lead to six runs after three complete.

Marian led 7-1 entering the fourth inning, and carried their lead at six runs despite Spring Arbor loading the bases in the inning. The Cougars would make up for their missed chance as they took advantage of two Enfield walks, driving in runs on a double and back-to-back sacrifice flies. Enfield finished the inning with a fly out, holding the lead at three runs by a 7-4 count.

Chris Adams took over on the mound in the sixth inning for the Knights, and escaped a jam after allowing a double and walk, getting two consecutive strikeouts to close the frame. In the home half the Knights got their three runs back, with two errors helping Kelly score the first of the three. Zach Bale recorded an RBI sacrifice fly to drive in Kameron Salazar, and Hector Corona would cap the scoring by crossing the plate on a wild pitch. Adams would work out of a jam in the top of the seventh as he escaped his self-induced bases loaded frame with another three strikeouts. 

The Knights got another productive inning from Adams in the top of the eighth inning in the 10-4 game, and in the home half Marian was able to complete a run-rule victory. Elijah Kelly slammed a three-run home run to put the Knights in front by nine runs, and after Marian earned two free base runners, Hector Corona drove in the game-finishing run with an RBI single to right-center, capping the 14-4 victory.

Kelly dominated game one at the plate, going 3-4 with four RBI and three runs scored while hitting his first collegiate home run. Steffen went 3-4 as well, scoring twice while hitting a triple. Both Zach Bale and Calvin Miller went 2-5 at the plate, and Johnny Roeder went 1-3, sending home three runs with his home run. Davis Enfield (4-2) earned the win on the mound, allowing four runs and six hits in his five innings of work. Chris Adams earned his second save of the campaign, striking out eight batters in three innings of scoreless relief.

GAME 2 | Marian 6-21 Spring Arbor
Pitching woes plagued the Knights throughout game two, as a bounty of walks and hit batters aided Spring Arbor to a lopsided victory. Walks following a two-out error cost Logan Drook in the first inning, as the starter gave up three unearned runs to fall behind in the game early. The third-year Knight saw his outing end in the next inning, as a walk and two hit batters ended his outing. Eli Loichinger could not cleanly get out of the inning, giving up an RBI single that sparked three more Cougar runs, putting Marian in a 6-0 hole.

Loichinger was able to pitch a scoreless third inning as he brushed off a lead-off single, and in the home half got his first run as Zach Bale doubled to bring in Kameron Salazar, but the Knights were unable to sustain their offense for their pitcher after that. The Cougars broke the game open in the fourth inning, as Spring Arbor took advantage of Marian's pitching by scoring 11 runs on seven hits in a lengthy half frame. Carter King bailed the Knights out in the inning after Spring Arbor had plated 11 off their relievers Loichinger and Mitchell Porter, getting a foul out to end the inning.

Spring Arbor would manage to score four more runs off the Knights pitching staff before the conclusion of the game, while Marian managed to get late offense from their reserves to narrow the margin on the board. Dawson Estep hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and in the bottom of the sixth inning Roman Utterback recorded his first career home run with a solo shot to center field. Deacon Spencer scored in the bottom of the seventh to cap the game's scoring, ending the contest in the 21-6 final.

The Knights had eight hits in the loss, with Dawson Estep recording the only multi-hit game of the day with his 2-4 outing. Cole McManus recorded an RBI in his 1-2 day, while Roman Utterback recorded his first home run in the contest. Logan Drook fell to 0-2 on the season, throwing into the second inning while allowing six runs. Justin Johnson had Marian's most productive relief appearance, allowing two hits while striking out two batters in 1.1 innings on the hill.

Marian and Spring Arbor will resume their series on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.