Fort Wayne, Ind. - The Marian softball team split with the University of Saint Francis on Saturday afternoon. The Knights won big in game one 8-0 and fell 3-2 in game two to move them to 38-8 overall on the season and 28-6 in the Crossroads League.

Game 1 | Marian 8-0 Saint Francis
The Cougars' defense was on point in the first inning, recording three straight outs against the Knights. Olivia Stunkel and Marian's defense followed up with a clean inning. In the top of the second Hayley Greene struck big with a two-run home run to drive in Jenna Minnix and take the lead. After the Knights recorded a double and single Brooke Knox extended the lead with a double to drive in Anna Pritchett and Ally Malone. Soon after Abbey Hofmann was able to record a triple scoring Knox and take the 5-0 lead.

Pitching on both ends was up to par for the next four innings with the Cougars only recording two hits while the Knights recorded one. Marian was able to strike again in the seventh inning with Caroline Roop came in to pinch hit for Mystic Means. Roop was able to hit a deep double to score Hofmann and Knox on the play and extend the lead to seven. With one out on the board Grace Meyer hit a sacrifice fly into left field to score Means and secure the 8-0 lead. Lauren Mayer came in to close out the game only allowing one batter on base, but got out of the inning with a fly out to left and a double play to take the 8-0 win.

Abbey Hofmann led the Knights going 2-4 from the plate with a triple, one run, and one RBI recorded. Caroline Roop (1-1), Ally Malone (1-3), and Brooke Knox (1-2) each recorded one double while Hayley Greene (1-3) recorded a home run. Roop, Green, and Knox led the team in RBI's with two while Jenna Minnix drew the most walks with two.

In the circle Olivia Stunkel earned her 22nd win pitching six innings only giving up two hits. Stunkel recorded two walks and struck out five out of her 22 batters faced. Lauren Mayer came in to close out the game pitching one inning and facing three batters.

Game 2 | Marian 2-3 St. Francis
Unlike game one the Cougars struck first with a solo home run in the first inning to take the early lead. Saint Francis' defense and pitching struck hard against the Knights offense only allowing one hit through the third inning. Macy Coan was also on point only giving up one hit after the home run. 

Grace Meyer struck in the fourth with a single to drive in Anna Pritchett and bring the game to a 1-1 bottleneck. The Cougars recorded the lead once more in the bottom of the fourth with a run off of a single. After holding Marian to a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, Saint Francis was able to tack on two more runs in the fifth inning. 

Marian was able to strike one last time with a sacrifice fly from Brooke Knox to score Karly Anderson and decrease the Cougars lead down to one run. The defense was able to secure the 3-2 defeat over Marian, as consecutive groundouts ended the game.

Lily Wendt, Grace Meyer, and Ally Malone led the Knights in game two each going 2-3 from the plate with Meyer recording one RBI. In the circle, Macy Coan took the loss as she pitched six innings, allowing three runs in the game on Saturday.

The Knights are back in action for their regular season finale at home as they take on Goshen tomorrow, April 27th starting at 1:00 p.m. Marian will have an opportunity to become the Crossroads League Co-Champions on Sunday, needing to earn a sweep over Goshen to do so. A split would result in Marian finishing the season in second place in the CL Standings. 

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