Knights End Season in NAIA Opening Round Championship Falling to Southern Oregon - Marian University Ind. (2024)

INDIANAPOLIS - On the final day of the NAIA Softball Opening Round, the Marian softball team faced elimination twice, earning a game-one win over (RV) Aquinas before seeing their season come to an untimely end in the championship game against No. 17 Southern Oregon. The Crossroads League Champions ended their season with a 46-12 overall record.

Marian 1-0 Aquinas | 9 Innings
The opening game of the day that Marian played was a tightly-contested pitchers duel, as Olivia Stunkel and Grace Maguire battled head to head. Stunkel began the game with a perfect start, retiring the side in order after opening the contest with a 16-pitch strikeout against Courtney Hardin. Maguire sat Marian down in order after three batters walked to the plate, and in the second Stunkel faced her first taste of adversity by giving up a two-out single, but ended the frame strongly with a third fly ball out in the outfield.

Marian's offense got active in the second inning as Grace Meyer and Abbey Hofmann roped base hits off the pitcher Maguire, but the Saints starter would end the inning with two fly outs after a wild pitch but both runners in scoring position. Stunkel was again tested in the third inning as she allowed two singles and an infield fielder's choice that loaded the bases, but calmly got a pop up and strikeout to end the threat. Marian looked to retaliate in the home half as Anna Pritchett, Savannah Harweger, and Brooke Knox all reached base in the frame, but the bats were unable to dent the board.

Stunkel regained her first inning touch with a quick three-up, three-down fourth inning, while her counterpart faced the minimum in the bottom half inning. Walks harmed Stunkel for a matter of moments in the fifth inning before two strikeouts kept her scoreless bid going, and in the bottom half Maguire brushed off a single from Pritchett to keep the 0-0 game going.

As the game reached crunch time, Stunkel continued to throw strong as she needed just five pitches to retire the side in order in the sixth. Marian looked to score a run as Abby Madere roped a single and reached third on a sacrifice bunt and ground out, but would get stranded at third as a grounder from Abbey Hofmann failed to clear the infield. Both sides had a chance to score the first run of the game in the seventh inning as Aquinas had their lead-off batter reach on a hit by pitch, but the Saints were unable to get a hit off Stunkel. Marian loaded the bases with two outs as Pritchett singled and Harweger and Knox both walked, but a pop up would leave the bases loaded.

The game moved to extra innings after zero runs were shown through seven complete, and in the eighth Stunkel was strong with three infield pop ups that stranded a one-out single. Maguire matched with three outs surrounding a two-out hit from Abbey Hofmann, as the game stayed deadlocked at 0-0.

In the ninth inning Marian stuck with their ace, and Stunkel delivered with a three-up, three-down attack, getting a strikeout to bring Hayley Greene to the plate in the home half. Aquinas made a pitching change for Sophia Paveseto start the ninth, and Greene fought as she reached a nine-pitch at-bat. On the final pitch of the plate appearance, Greene squared up a ball she liked, hammering a pitch to deep center field for a walk-off solo home run, winning the game for the Knights by a 1-0 count.

Greene's walk-off home run is the first of her career, and capped Marian's longest game of the season as they won 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth. Greene finished the game 1-4, recording one of the team's nine hits. Both Hofmann and Meyer had two hits in the game, and Pritchett finished with a 3-3 outing. In the circle, Stunkel tossed 127 pitches as she earned her 27th win of the season, going the complete nine innings with four hits allowed. The junior struck out five batters, and issued just two walks in the win.

Marian 2-9 Southern Oregon
After defeating Aquinas, Marian turned around to the championship game against Southern Oregon, needing a win to force the if-necessary championship contest. Marian was the visiting team in the contest, and quickly went down swinging as their lineup saw just four pitches from Katie Machado as the Raiders retired the side. Southern Oregon attacked Marian's starter Macy Coan, as the freshman gave up a pair of RBI base hits, ending the opening inning trailing 2-0.

Abbey Hofmann would record Marian's first hit of the game in the top of the second inning with two outs, but her single was unable to spark a rally, bringing the hot-hitting Raiders back to the plate, where they tagged the freshman pitcher for three hits and three runs, as their lead expanded to five runs. Marian chipped away at the hole in the third inning with Savannah Harweger scoring on a two-out double from Brooke Knox, as the junior drove in the first run of the day. Coan tossed a perfect third inning, and in the fourth looked primed to get more support to make the contest closer, but the base hits from Hofmann and Greene were left dry as Brenna Fink hit a hard line drive directly at the left fielder.

Coanwould give up a single in the fourth inning before stranding the lead runner at third, and saw her team come closer to the comeback in the fifth inning as the Knights got a run on the board on an Abby Madere base hit. Anna Pritchett and Mackenzie Dalton reached base before Madere to set up the RBI hit, and before the inning ended Grace Meyer drew a walk to load the bases, however Machado was able to dig in for the Raiders and end the rally with a strikeout.

The game would get put out of reach in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Coangave up two runs and a pair of hits that saw Southern Oregon expand their lead back to five, as the score stood at 7-2. Marian went down in order in the sixth inning, and in the bottom of the sixth the Raiders added to their lead with three hits and two runs off relief pitcher Katie Lackman. Trailing 9-2 in the seventh inning, Marian was unable to spark a rally, as a lone walk drawn by Raegan Hiatt was all that could be mustered, as the season came to an end in the championship game.

The Knights racked up seven hits in the season-ending game, getting two from the freshman Hofmann. Harweger, Knox, Dalton, Madere, and Greene each collected one hit in the final game. Coan ended her freshman season with an 11-5 overall record after recording the loss, giving up seven runs and nine hits. Lackman allowed three hits and two runs in her lone inning of work.

Marian's season concludes with a 46-12 overall record, having won both the Crossroads League Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The Knights were selected as the NAIA Tournament Opening Round hosts for a second consecutive season, and led the Crossroads League in All-Crossroads League honors this year.

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