Warriors outscore four foes, 55-10

The Marion baseball team outscored its opponents 55-10 in doubleheader sweeps of Inman and Ell-Saline last week, improving to 7-1 in Heart of America play and 12-2 overall.

Inman—In a non-league matchup, Marion faced the Teutons Friday for the second time this season and achieved the same result, as the Warriors again earned a pair of run-rule wins.

Marion won Game 1, 21-0 in four innings, blowing the game open with an 11-run fourth inning. In that frame, Marion benefitted from two hits, two errors and seven walks.

The Warriors started the game with a three-hit, four-run first inning, then scored two runs off one hit and an error in the second. Corbin Wheeler highlighted the frame with an RBI triple.

A three-hit, four-run third inning made it 10-0, before Marion ended the game in the fourth.

“(Inman) struggled to throw strikes,” coach Roger Schroeder said. “For the most part, it was a tough game to be a part of, especially the first one. We scored 21 runs on nine hits. It wasn’t ideal.”

Wheeler was 3-for-3 at the plate and drove in four runs.

Jaxton Tracy (4-1) earned the pitching win, scattering three hits over 3.2 innings of scoreless work. He walked four batters and struck out seven. Eli Hett secured the final out.

“It’s a hard game to evaluate because we did hit the ball well at times, and then as we got into the third and fourth inning, we scored a bunch of runs, but I felt like our at-bats deteriorated compared to the first couple of innings,” Schroeder said.

Marion won Game 2, 14-2, in five innings. Inman made six errors and managed only three hits.

The Warriors built a 7-1 lead through three innings, then doubled their run total in the fourth inning that all but sealed the run-rule win.

Inman scored one run in the fifth inning, but it wasn’t enough.

To start the game, Marion Luke Lanning’s two-run single and three Teuton errors to score three runs in the opening inning, then added four more runs on three hits in the third. Evann Heide­brecht highlighted the half-inning with an RBI triple.

Heidebrecht went 2-for-3 at the plate and had two RBIs. Lanning was 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Cole Srajer and Cooper Carpenter each had two RBIs.

Blaine Mermis (2-0) earned the pitching win, scattering three hits and two earned runs over five innings. He walked five batters and struck out four.

Ell-Saline—Marion swept the visiting Cardinals Tuesday. The Warriors won Game 1, 7-5, scoring in every inning but the third.

Marion scored three runs in the first inning with only one hit: Garrett Hoffner’s two-run single.

But the Cardinals closed the gap with a two-run second inning.

Marion added single runs in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, holding off a Cardinal squad that scored two runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh.

Cooper Carpenter and Sam Zinn were both 2-for-3 with the bat and each had one RBI. Garrett Hoffner drove in two runs, while Jacob Vondenkamp hit a fifth-inning RBI double. Marion struck out nine times.

Chase Stringer (3-0) earned the pitching win. In 5.2 innings, he scattered three hits and four runs (all earned). He walked six batters and struck out four.

Corbin Wheeler was credited with the save, giving up two hits and one earned run with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief.

“In the first game, the guy that started for them was probably one of the better arms we’ve seen over the course of this year,” coach Roger Schroeder said. “I don’t want to put him in this different category, but he was a good arm.

“One thing we did a good job of was pretty much taking what they gave us to a certain extent. We didn’t expand the strike zone. We did strike out more than I would have liked.”

Marion won Game 2, 13-3, in six innings.

The Warriors hung a number on the scoreboard in all six frames, scoring two runs in every inning but the fifth, during which Marion scored three runs on three hits and an error.

Ell-Saline, meanwhile, scored one run in the second inning and two more in the fifth. The Cardinals committed five errors in the game.

Five Warriors recorded two hits: Jacob Vonden­kamp, Cole Srajer, Luke Lanning, Sam Zinn and Evann Heidebrecht. Srajer, Garrett Hoffner, Heidebrecht and Jaxton Tracy each drove in two runs. Srajer hit a second-inning RBI triple.

“We turned around and played pretty good in Game 2 as well,” Schroeder said. “I think we scored in every inning of that game and did a good job of really limiting them.”

Zinn (3-1) earned the pitching win. In 4.2 innings, he gave up five hits and three earned runs. He walked three Cardinals and struck out three. Tracy pitched 1.1 scoreless innings of relief and struck out two batters.

Coming—Marion was scheduled to host Remington Tuesday and will host Bennington May 1.

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