INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian baseball team dropped both games in their home finale on Friday afternoon, falling by double digits in both contests against Grace College. Marian is 23-22 overall on the year, and 18-14 in the Crossroads League. 

GAME 1 | Marian 5-15 Grace | 5 INNINGS
Game one was the more competitive matchup of the two on the day, as the Lancers strung together a pair of hits and drew a pair of walks with two outs in the first inning against Eli Loichinger, as the freshman yielded three runs. The freshman would bounce back with a clean second inning, and in the home half saw his offense come to life, as Marian turned two walks and a hit by pitch into a pair of runs, making it a 3-2 game. Loichinger surrendered a solo shot in the top of the third inning as Grace jumped back on top by two, but in the bottom half the game would come back to a stalemate, as Hector Corona and Calvin Miller each picked up an RBI. 

With the game tied 4-4, Loichinger dialed in during the fourth inning, stranding a two-out walks to keep the score deadlocked. Marian could not add to their totals in the bottom of the fourth as Zach Bale had a single left on base, which would spell doom for the Knights in the next half inning. Loichinger yielded a lead-off solo home run, and followed with a double and hit batter. Needing one out, Marian turned to Justin Johnson, however the southpaw was unable to keep the game a one-run affair, as two hits and a hit batter scored three more Lancer runs, making the game a 9-4 contest.

Marian drove in a run in rebuttal in the bottom of the fifth as Dawson Estep scored Josh Lamb with his RBI groundout, but the Knights failed to string together a hit after the play, leaving two on base in the 9-5 contest. In the sixth inning, Grace began to put the game out of reach, scoring four runs on Dylan Holmes. Jayson Cottrell cleaned up the inning with a strikeout and fly out, but the deficit had swelled to eight runs. The Lancers scored two more in the seventh inning to make the game a 15-5 score, and in both the sixth and seventh the Knights were retired in order, ending the game in a 15-5 run-rule defeat.

Josh Lamb had a two-hit performance in game one, while Bale, Max Steffen, and Corona each had one base knock. Eli Loichinger (3-2) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs on five hits through 4.1 innings of work. Marian had seven strikeouts from their pitching staff in the loss, with three belonging to Cottrell and four going to Loichinger. 

GAME 2 | Marian 4-14 Grace
Grace continued to have Marian's number in the second outing, as the Lancers scored at least one run in each of the seven innings in game two. The Lancers pushed across two runs in the top of the first off Damien Wallace, but the Knights were able to counter as Dawson Estep recorded a sacrifice fly to score Kameron Salazar. Wallace would allow a two-out solo home run to Grace in the top of the third, but the Knights were able to get the run back in the home half as Nathan Pinarski and Kameron Salazar exchanged doubles to make it a 3-2 game.

The Lancers again extended their lead in the top of the third inning as a second two-out home run allowed by Wallace plated two, but for the first time, Marian was unable to get a run off Steven Hernandez, as the visiting southpaw faced the minimum in the home half. Wallace's outing came to an end after the top of the fourth, as the senior was roughed up for three hits and a bases-loaded walk, bringing in four Grace runs. Marian went down in order in the ensuing half inning, trailing 8-2 after four complete.

Grace scored four runs over the final three innings, as Marian ran out six different pitchers to minimize the Lancers. Seth Risley and Carter King threw the fifth as two runs scored under Risley's watch, and in the sixth, the trio of King, Andrew Neff, and Aidan Bishop yielded three runs. Bishop was called on to clean up the inning, walking one batter before getting a strikeout to close the frame. Caden Bradley would allow the final run in the top of the seventh, before Hunter Reagan came on to pitch the final two defensive outs. 

Marian scored their final two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, with Zach Bale roping a double to score Salazar, while Estep singled in the first baseman after a Josh Lamb hit. The Knights produced a pair of runners in the sixth inning but were held scoreless by Hernandez, and in the seventh, Grace's reliever Aiden McSherry struck out the side, working out of a self-inflicted bases-loaded jam, ending the game in the 14-4 score.

Kameon Salazar and Nathan Pinarski each had two hits in the loss, while five other Knights had one hit. Wallace (1-3), suffered the loss, pitching four complete innings while allowing eight runs. The senior struck out five battes, while Bishop and Reagan each recorded one punch out of their own.

Marian will end their regular season on the road, traveling to Taylor on Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25. 

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