Viera, Fla. - The Marian softball team ended its week in Florida on a three-game winning streak, as the Knights swept their Saturday twin bill with wins against Clarke and Lawrence Tech. Marian improves to 9-2 overall on the season following Saturday's wins. 

Game One | Marian 4-1 Clarke
The Knights reinserted Macy Coan in the lineup as a starting pitcher on Saturday and got a lift from their junior pitcher as she logged six scoreless innings in the first game of the day. Coan was perfect through three innings of play, picking up three strikeouts over the three frames. In the fourth, she would face harm as she allowed two singles, but was able to get out of the inning as Mati Hughes turned an inning-ending double play. 

While the pitcher was off to a strong start, so too was the offense, as a lead-off walk and a stolen base for Abbey Hofmann saw Marian get out of the gates quickly. Delaney Rundle and Abby Madere followed with singles, as Madere was able to knock in Hofmann for the RBI, and later in the inning, Ally Malone plated Delaney Rundle with an RBI groundout, providing a 2-0 lead in the first inning. 

Marian threatened again in the third inning as Hofmann and Madere each singled, but no damage was done as Clarke as able to escape harm. The Pride would respond to Marian's first inning runs in the top of the fifth, as Oakliegh Harman homered to center field off Coan, cutting the lead in half. Coan would get out of the inning with a pair of infield outs and returned in the sixth with a three-up, three-down frame, protecting the 2-1 lead.

In the home half of the sixth inning, the Knights provided two-out insurance for their starter, as Alyssa Donaldson doubled to center, bringing home Ally Malone. Mallorie Beutel would enter the game as a pinch hitter and score Donaldson's pinch-runner Jaelyn Phillips, doubling the Knights' total in the game as the score grew to 4-1. Playing with a three-run cushion, Coan was able to quickly work through the seventh inning, forcing three fly outs as Marian ended the game as 4-1 victors. 

Coan (2-0) earned the win in her second start of the season, logging her first complete game of the campaign. The junior allowed three hits and one run, striking out four in the morning win. Abby Madere was a perfect 3-3 in the win, driving home one run, and Alyssa Donaldson had the team's only extra-base hit with her double. Marian totaled nine hits in the win. 

Game Two | Marian 6-3 Lawrence Tech
Marian got off to a rocky start in their final game of the week, failing to come up with a run in the top of the first inning despite Delaney Rundle's single and Abby Madere's double. In the bottom of the first, the failure to score stung, as the Blue Devils racked up four base hits off starter Lexi Smith, bringing home three runs in the inning to take a quick 3-0 lead. 

Smith recovered quickly and pitched a flawless second inning, and in the top of the third, got a lift from the offense, as the Knights drove home six runs. Rundle and Madere started the rally with back-to-back one-out singles, while Mati Hughes loaded the bases with the team's third consecutive hit. Marian continued to rack up the hits, as Ally Malone, Lily Wendt, and Mallorie Beutel each roped RBI singles, with Beutel's hit driving home two runs to provide a 4-3 lead. Alyssa Donaldson would drive home a run on an error, and Rundle finished the high-scoring inning with an RBI single, with her second base knock of the inning giving the Knights a 6-3 lead.

As good as the offense was in the six-run inning, the next half inning, Lawrence Tech tried to match, as they were able to score another three runs off Smith to tie the game. The freshman pitcher allowed back-to-back hits to begin the inning, with a single and a double tying the game. Hughes would make the strong defensive play to end the inning, as she threw out Ainsley Colman at third base on her double to end the inning, keeping the score tied 6-6.

Marian made a call to the bullpen in the fourth inning, bringing Alayna Tesnar on in relief for the first time this season. Tesnar quickly worked to get the first two outs, but then yielded three unanswered base hits, with the third putting the Blue Devils back in the lead at 7-6. The sophomore would get a strikeout to end the inning, and then worked through a two-walk fifth inning to hold the contest at a one-run game.

Down to their final six outs, Marian made a move in the top of the sixth inning, igniting the offense again as Delaney Rundle drew a one-out walk. Abby Madere kept her big day at the plate going and doubled in her fellow outfielder to tie the game, forcing a pitching change. Three batters into reliever Natilee Pridemore's appearance, Marian had loaded the bases, and Lily Wendt kept the path moving as she drew an RBI walk. Mallorie Beutel and Alyssa Donaldson followed with RBI knocks, pushing across two more runs to give the Knights a 10-7 lead. 

The lead was enough for Tesnar to finish the game, as she faced the minimum in both the sixth and seventh innings. The sophomore picked up an inning-ending strikeout in the sixth after Mati Hughes caught a runner stealing, and following Ally Malone's insurance RBI single in the seventh, Marian's leader in wins ended the game with three consecutive outs, closing out the team's come-from-behind 11-7 victory.

Tesnar moved to 5-1 on the season as she earned the win in relief, pitching four innings out of the bullpen. The sophomore tossed as many strikeouts as innings pitched, and allowed four hits and one run. Lexi Smith took a no-decision in the game, allowing eight hits and six runs in three innings of work as the starter.

At the plate, Marian racked up a season-high 15 hits, with Abby Madere, Delaney Rundle, and Ally Malone each picking up three base knocks. Madere doubled twice in her 3-5 game, while Malone had two RBI and scored twice. Mallorie Beutel led the Knights in RBI with three. 

With their spring break games complete, the Knights will turn its focus to a stretch of Crossroads League games, returning to Indiana with a road doubleheader next Friday at Huntington. 

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