With the postseason in sight, the Marian University baseball team showed resilience and grit Monday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader with Mount Vernon Nazarene. The Knights rolled to a 10-3 win in the opener before falling 3-0 in a tightly contested second game.

Freshman pitcher Eli Loichinger bounced back from a rocky start in Game 1, allowing two unearned runs in the first inning before settling in for six scoreless frames. He finished with the win, improving to 2-1 on the season.

“Eli coming in to pitch for us was amazing,” said sophomore catcher Jacob Dill.

“He’s exceeded expectations and is going to continue playing a crucial role for this team.”

The Knights’ offense came alive in the third inning, sparked by patience at the plate. Dill drew a one-out walk, followed by back-to-back free passes from Kameron Salazar and Johnny Roeder to load the bases. With two outs, Zach Bale delivered a bases-clearing double to the left field alley, putting Marian ahead 3-2.

Marian added to the lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Dill and padded it further in the fifth with a two-run single from Hector Corona. The scoring wrapped up in the seventh, when Calvin Miller launched a three-run homer off the right-field foul pole.

Dill finished with two RBIs, while Bale and Miller each drove in three. Chris Adams closed out the win with three strikeouts over two innings, giving up just one unearned run.

“This series just taught us to be patient,” said Dill. “Momentum will come and go, but this keeps us on the right side as we get closer to the playoffs.”

Game 2 followed a similar early script, with Mount Vernon Nazarene scoring twice in the first inning and once in the second. After that, Marian pitchers Parker Wallace and Jace Stoops combined to hold the Cougars scoreless through the final five innings.

Despite putting runners on base in nearly every inning, the Knights couldn’t break through. Bale doubled in the seventh in a final attempt at a rally, but a flyout by Joe Estep ended the game.

Corona and Bale each recorded two hits. Wallace took the loss, despite allowing just three hits and two earned runs over five innings. Stoops tossed two shutout innings in relief.

“We took away something big from that game,” said Dill. “The game owes us nothing, and we’re playing the person in the mirror. We’ve just got to keep pushing forward.”

Beyond the box score, the Knights are growing stronger as a unit. A sense of trust and unity is fueling their late-season push.

According to Dill, someone who has stepped up for the team is Ryan Pryzby. Pryzby got hurt early in the season but has been a huge help, practically another coach. Pryzby helps with practices and is one heck of a first base coach.

Marian will look to carry its momentum into a pivotal four-game road series against Bethel University.