INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The #24-ranked Huntington baseball team battled to a split Sunday afternoon with receiving-votes Marian at MU Ballpark, dropping the opener in extra innings before erupting offensively in the nightcap for a 15-7 victory. The split leaves the four-game series even at 2-2 after the two teams also divided Friday's twin bill.
With the results, the Foresters move to 18-5 overall and 8-4 in Crossroads League play.
Game 1 – Marian 5, Huntington 4 (10 innings)
The opener turned into a grind as both teams traded blows before the Knights walked it off in the tenth.
Huntington pieced together its four runs in different ways with Jace Fowler playing a hand in three of them. The senior scored the Foresters' first run in the opening inning on a wild pitch, delivered an RBI single in the sixth to give HU a 2-1 advantage, and later plated another with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to knot the game at 4-4.
The Foresters added another run in the seventh when Zach Pelletier stole third and raced home on a throwing error to put HU up 3-1.
Despite Huntington's efforts, Marian answered in the bottom of the seventh when River Pecina launched a three-run homer to flip the score in the Knights' favor. The Foresters answered back in the eighth before the hosts finally secured the win in the tenth on Calvin Miller's walk-off single.
Huntington finished with seven hits, led by Fowler's 2-for-3 effort with two RBI while Cam Clarkson also recorded a pair of hits.
On the mound, Grant Simmons delivered a strong start, striking out seven while allowing four runs across seven innings. Keegan Shovlain took the loss after striking out five over the final frames before Marian's walk-off.
For the Knights, Pecina paced the offense with three RBs while Landon Sarkey and Cole McManus each collected multiple hits.
Game 2 – Huntington 15, Marian 7
The nightcap was an entirely different story as Huntington erupted early and never looked back.
The Foresters jumped on Marian immediately, plating four runs in their first at-bat behind RBI knocks from Owen Willard and Zach Pelletier before Keifer Wilson crushed a two-run homer to make it 4-0.
HU kept its foot on the gas in the third when Tanner Reinartz launched a three-run blast to stretch the advantage to 7-0.
Marian threatened with a four-run sixth to trim the deficit to 9-6, but the Foresters responded emphatically in the seventh, unloading six runs fueled by a mix of timely hitting and small ball.
The inning featured run-scoring contributions from Kade Flores, Fowler and freshman Dylan Luther, who drove in a run in his first collegiate at-bat.
Huntington's offense was relentless, piling up 16 hits. Fowler finished 2-for-5 with two RBI, while Deklan Thompson, Willard, Pelletier, Wilson and Owen Imel each recorded multiple hits. Wilson drove in two while Reinartz paced the lineup with three RBI.
On the bump, Kai Newman earned the win after striking out nine over five innings, surrendering just two runs on five hits.
The Foresters' pitching staff racked up 12 strikeouts in the victory.
Huntington now turns its attention to next weekend when the Foresters travel to take on Bethel in another four-game Crossroads League series.
The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 181 NAIA All-America honors and 631 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. Huntington has a top quartile ranking in the 2026 U.S. News Best Regional Universities Midwest Rankings.
