MARION, Ind. - The Marian baseball team was unable to keep the magic of their Wednesday walk-off in Thursday's opening game of the Crossroads League Tournament Bracket, as the Knights came up on the losing end of a 9-6 battle against Saint Francis. Marian drops to the elimination bracket in the conference tournament with a 24-27 overall record.

Wasting little time to get on the board, Kameron Salazar began the game with a bang, as the senior roped a lead-off solo home run to give Marian a quick 1-0 lead. Eli Loichinger carried the lead into the second as he made the start, retiring the first three Cougar batters of the game. Marian looked poised to add to their lead in the top of the second as Hector Corona led the inning with a base hit, but Saint Francis' Lukas North settled in and picked up two strikeouts to keep the Knights off the board. The game would then move to a tie contest entering the third inning, as Loichinger yielded a solo home run to Eli Riley in the bottom of the second.

The back and forth nature continued into the third inning, as the Knights regained the lead on a two-out solo home run from Zach Bale. Loichinger aimed to carry the lead into the fourth inning as he picked up two outs around a walk and hit batter, but would see a pair of two-out singles drive in the go-ahead runs for the Cougars. Saint Francis added to their lead in the fourth inning as an error allowed a fourth run to score, but the freshman pitcher kept his composure on the mound, notching a third strikeout in the frame to leave the bases loaded.

Loichinger would keep the Knights in the game as he went back out and pitched a scoreless fifth inning, and in the top of the sixth the bats woke up once more, with Marian scoring two runs. Consecutive doubles smoked by Hector Corona and Johnny Roeder drove in the tying runs, as Roeder's two-RBI hit leveled the score at four runs each. The 4-4 tie would not last long, as Marian's fortune began to dry up in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Cougars plating four runs. Loichinger left two runners on base after retiring the first out in the frame, and as Chris Adams came on in relief, the Knights' fourth-year pitcher saw a run score on a wild pitch with three others crossing the dish on a Jayden Lepper home run.

Adams got two strikeouts to get out of the sixth inning, but would exit the game trailing 8-4. Marian got two runs back in the top of the seventh as a Max Steffen walk set up a two-run home run for Zach Bale, with the first baseman's second yard call of the game making it a two-run score. The Knights would leave a runner on as their comeback came up short, and in the top of the eighth, an inning-ending double play spoiled a scoring chance for the visitors on the board. Mitchell Porter relieved Adams in the seventh and kept Marian in the game, pitching a scoreless seventh before yielding a two-out home run in the bottom of the eighth. Trailing 9-6 with their last at bats of the game, Marian was retired in order in the ninth, ending the game with three consecutive groundouts in the defeat.

Loichinger took the loss in the contest, falling to 3-4 on the season. The freshman allowed six hits and six runs, while Chris Adams surrendered two runs and a hit in two-thirds of an inning. Mitchell Porter struck out three batters in his two innings of work. At the plate, Zach Bale led the Knights with a 2-5 game, hitting two home runs with three RBI. Corona went 2-4 in the loss, and Roeder picked up two RBI going 1-3 at the plate. 

Marian will play again at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 2, with their season in the balance. The Knights will play either Taylor or Huntington in the elimination game.

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