DAVENPORT (FL) - Friday morning, the Marian University Ancilla Baseball team returned to action on their Spring Break trip, this time playing a double-header against Bryant & Stratton College from Wisconsin. Despite the big win for the Chargers on Wednesday, the Bobcats were the ones accumulating the runs early Friday, defeating the Chargers 10-4 and 17-7. Below are some notes from each game.

3/6 GAME-1 (L 10-4): Bryant & Stratton woke up ready to go, and the Bobcats scored at least 1 run in 6 of the 7 innings in Game-1. By the time the Chargers batted in the bottom of the 6th inning, it was already 9-0 Bobcats, but MUAC did finally find a little rhythm at the plate to finish the first game.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 6th, Sophomore Evan Lanphier was hit by a pitch, then Redshirt Freshman Owen Negron followed with a walk. Sophomore Jaxson Hixson smacked a line drive single to center field, allowing Lanphier to come around and score, and it was 9-1. Negron then stole third base and Hixson advanced to second on a wild pitch, so 2 runners were in scoring position. Sophomore Jose Paris doubled to left field, scoring both, and the lead was trimmed to 9-3.

Freshman Armando Arroyo drew a walk, then Paris and Arroyo executed a double steal to again place 2 runners in scoring position. Sophomore Logan Clark hit a fly ball to left field for the second out, but Paris was able to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly, and it was now 9-4, Bobcats.

B & S would get another run in the top of the 7th to go ahead 10-4, but the Chargers made one last attempt in the bottom of the 7th. With 1 out and trailing 10-4, Sophomore Aayden Antoine hit a hard ground ball to third base, then reached on an error. Freshman Isaiah Vaca would pinch run for Antoine, and following the 2nd out, a strikeout, Vaca would steal second base. Negron picked up a hit on a ground ball to shortstop, and suddenly the Chargers had runners on the corners. Unfortunately, though, they couldn't take advantage.

Sometimes defense can get lost in high-scoring games, but Freshman catcher Devon Ortiz threw out 3 base-runners attempting to steal!!

3/6 GAME-2 (L 17-7): Game-2 started a bit more promisingly for the Chargers, as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. Sophomore Jose Paris hit the first pitch of the game into center field, reaching with a single. Freshman Kelton Weaver then walked, before Marian Ancilla succumbed to their first out. Following a double steal by Paris and Weaver, Redshirt Freshman Owen Negron hit a line drive into right field, scoring Paris, putting MUAC ahead, 1-0.

With runners on the corners, Negron took off for second base, while Weaver headed for home, scoring safely, and making it 2-0 Chargers. Then, with 2 outs, MUAC got a walk from Sophomore Jaxson Hixson, a walk from Freshman Liam Dupuis-Cundy, and then Freshman Layne Harman was hit by a pitch, scoring a run to push the lead out to 3-0. Freshman Armando Arroyo walked with the bases loaded to make it 4-0, then Dupuis-Cundy scored on a wild pitch and it was 5-0 and looking good for the Chargers.

Unfortunately, Bryant & Stratton would respond with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st, 8 runs in the bottom of the 2nd, and 4 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, and the Bobcats were suddenly ahead by a daunting 14-5 margin.

In the top of the 5th inning, Sophomore Logan Clark hit a 1-out double to reach safely. Dupuis-Cundy reached on an infield error, allowing Clark to score, and the lead was cut to 14-6. Harman walked to put runners on first and second with just 1 out. They would both advance on a wild pitch, then Dupuis-Cundy scored on a catcher's error, and it was 14-7.

In the bottom of the 5th, however, the Bobcats would add 3 more runs to go ahead by 10 and end the game due to their lead. On a positive note, the 6 stolen bases by the Chargers were their most in a game so far this season...Weaver tallied 3 of them.

The Chargers finished their road trip to Florida with a game this morning. They now make their trek home this afternoon and overnight, before turning around to host Clark State College in a double-header Monday afternoon on campus. First pitch is set for 1:00p, so please come out and support the baseball team, if you are able and not in class!!