Upland, Ind. - The Marian baseball team was swept on Thursday by the Crossroads League champion No. 11 Taylor Trojans, as the home team earned a pair of 10-run victories over the Knights. Marian drops to 23-24 on the year and 18-16 in the Crossroads League.

GAME 1 | Marian 1-11 No. 11 Taylor | 7 Innings
Marian's offense was unable to match No. 11 Taylor in game one of the series, as the Knights managed a pair of base hits through the first two innings on singles from Kameron Salazar and Calvin Miller. The Trojans were able to execute on the offensive end in Marian's shortcomings, as a pair of base hits off Davis Enfield in the first inning brought in a run, while a home run and two other RBI base hits in the second made the game a 4-0 affair.

Enfield settled in after his rocky start, pitching a scoreless third and fourth inning, while retiring the side in order in the fourth. The Knights managed to break through with two base runners in the top of the fourth inning, as Zach Bale reached on an error and Max Steffen singled to center, however Gabel Pentacost quickly retired the next three batters to strand two Marian runners. Enfield picked up an out in the bottom of the fifth inning before ending his outing with a runner on first, and his reliever Justin Johnson was unable to complete a third consecutive clean inning. Taylor pushed three runs in against Johnson before Chris Adams was called out of the pen, with the redshirt junior notching a strikeout to retire the side.

Trailing 7-0 in the top of the sixth inning, Marian was able to get on the board as Nathan Pinarski singled to right before racing around the bases on three different plays, crossing the plate to wipe off the goose egg. The Knights were unable to stack additional runs on the board after Pinarski scored on a wild pitch, and in the ensuing half inning Taylor pushed across four unearned runs against Adams, driving the score to a 10-run difference. Hector Corona doubled with two outs in the top of the seventh, but unable to score, the Knights would fall in seven innings by a count of 11-1.

Marian had five hits in the loss, with Corona racking up the lone extra-base hit of the game. Enfield (7-4) suffered his second consecutive loss on the mound, pitching 4.1 innings while allowing six hits and five runs. Johnson yielded two runs as he picked up one out, and Adams saw four unearned runs score in his 1.1 innings of work. 

GAME 2 | Marian 0-10 No. 11 Taylor
Taylor pounced on Logan Drook in the first inning as the junior yielded a two-run home run two batters into the game, putting Marian in an early hole. Drook would respond with a scoreless second inning and saw his offense come close at mustering a run in the third, however, the lead-off double smacked by Elijah Kelly would be held up at third base. The Knights again had a double in the top of the fourth after a five-batter home third, but the two-base hit by Max Steffen would be stranded 180 feet away from home.

In the bottom of the fourth, Drook's string of competitive pitching dried up, hitting the first batter of the inning before allowing a two-run home run to Mason David. Aden Burnside came on in relief, but pitched into a bases-loaded jam, allowing one run to score on one hit. Mitchell Porter would close the inning, stranding the bases with a pair of fly outs, holding the score at 5-0.

The Knights put two men on base in the top of the fifth inning as they attempted to rally, but the walk of Calvin Miller and Kameron Salazar single were unable to produce a score. In the bottom of the fifth, Taylor broke the game open, as Porter allowed four hits and five runs, seeing the difference ballon to 10 runs. Carter King got out of the fifth inning with a fly out, and in the sixth the senior kept Taylor scoreless with a four-batter frame. In Marian's final rally efforts, a single from Max Steffen was stranded in the sixth, and in the seventh the team loaded the bases with two outs, only to leave the bags juiced as the game concluded in a 10-0 loss.

Both Kameron Salazar and Max Steffen went 2-3 in the loss, as Marian totaled six hits with Miller and Aidan Holtzapple earning free passes on a walk and hit by pitch. Logan Drook (1-5) suffered the loss in three-plus innings, allowing four hits and earned runs. Porter and King each pitched 1.1 innings, with Porter allowing four hits and five runs in the loss. 

Marian and Taylor will finish their series on Friday afternoon, with game one set for 1:00 p.m.

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