Indianapolis, Ind. - The Marian softball team closed out their regular season with a Senior Day sweep over the Cougars of Saint Francis. After the win, the Knights are now 31-14 overall on the season and 23-13 in the Crossroads League.
Game 1 | Marian 2-1 Saint Francis (Ind.) | 8 Innings
The Knights struck first in game one with
Mati Hughes hitting a single into center field to score
Abbey Hofmann and take the 1-0 lead over the Cougars. Saint Francis attempted to push back, but
Macy Coan's skills in the circle shone, only giving up one hit into the sixth inning. After the Knights were unable to score through five innings, the Cougars tied up the game with an RBI single in the top of the sixth.
With each side dry through the seventh inning, the match up went into extra innings. The Knights' defense was spot on at the top of the eighth, recording three straight outs for the Cougars. With
Lily Wendt on third,
Ally Malone hit a single into right field to walk it off 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
In game one,
Ally Malone led the way, going 2-3 from the plate and driving in one RBI, while
Mati Hughes drove in one as well, going 1-3 from the plate. In the circle,
Macy Coan pitched all eight innings, striking out 11 batters and only giving up two hits in the matchup.
Game 2 | Marian 12-9 Saint Francis (Ind.)
The bats were hot in game two with Saint Francis striking early in the first inning with a run scored off of an error, followed by an RBI Double and a two RBI double with a run scored off of the throw to take the 5-0 lead over Marian.
Saint Francis continued to strike with an RBI single up the middle in the second, increasing their lead to six.
Alyssa Donaldson pushed back, scoring off of a runner caught stealing to bring the Cougars' lead back down to five. Saint Francis fired back once again at the top of the fourth with an RBI single to shortstop to extend their lead 7-1.
Ally Malone quickly countered with a two RBI double into left center to score
Mallorie Beutel and Lily Wend and bring the lead down to four. After holding Saint Francis scoreless in the fifth inning, Marian struck big in the fifth inning, with
Abby Madere starting things off with a single into right field, scoring
Abbey Hofmann. In the nine runs scored in the fifth inning,
Lily Wendt recorded an RBI single, Hofmann fired off an RBI double, and
Mystic Means recorded a RBI ground out to second, taking the 12-7 lead.
Saint Francis attempted to push with a two-run home run into left field, knocking the lead down to three. After a scoreless inning for the Knights, the Cougars had a runner on first and third with the tying run up to bat, but Marian's defense was able to record a quick 4-3 putout and take the 12-9 win and two-game sweep over the Cougars.
Abbey Hofmann led the way in game two, going 2-3 from the plate.
Abby Madere and
Lily Wendt went 2-4 from the plate, each recording one RBI.
Ally Malone led the way in RBIs, recording two.
Lauren Mayer took the start in the circle, pitching the first inning before
Alayna Tesnar came in as relief pitching for five innings. Tesnar recorded two strikeouts in her outing.
Lexi Smith came in for the final inning striking out one out of the five batters she faced.
Marian will be back in action on Wednesday, April 29th, as they travel up to Fort Wayne, Ind., to compete in the Crossroads League Tournament hosted by Saint Francis.
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