Box Scores - Game 1, Game 2

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (SabreAthletics.com) – The Marian University baseball team is making Herr-Baker Field a tough place for opponents to play as it improved to 6-0 on its home field after dispatching visiting Lakeland College, 7-1 and 11-7, in Northern Athletics Conference play Sunday afternoon, April 1.

Marian starter Jesse Blum (3-1) was dominant in a 7-1 victory in game one. The senior lowered his earned run average to a miniscule 1.07-clip. The Sabres then used their offense to claim an 11-7 game two victory, losing a four-run lead before climbing back to erase a two-run deficit. Marian pounded out double-digit hit totals for the fourth straight game and fifth time in their last six contests.

The Sabres improved to 10-6 overall, 3-1 in the NAC, while Lakeland fell to 11-6 (2-2 NAC).

In game one, Blum threw a gem. The Caroline, Wis. native allowed just an unearned run over eight innings, while striking out three and walking two. He retired 11 straight from the first inning on and strung together another eight in a row later in the game en route to his third straight win.

Meanwhile, the offense carried over its 23-hit performance from yesterday with a 10-hit output in game one. Anthony Porcaro and Kent Lentz each tallied a pair of hits and Matt Follen scored three runs in the winning effort.

All of Marian's runs came in the fifth-seventh innings. The Sabres erased a one run deficit in the fifth, scoring a pair after giving up one in the top half. Porcaro executed a flawless suicide squeeze attempt to score Follen from third for the go-ahead score.

Follen and Porcaro singled home runs in the sixth to make it 4-1 before Marian tacked on three more in the seventh.

Garrett Thompson and Jeff Thomas came in for the final three outs to preserve the win.
In game two, the bats stayed hot to the tune of 15 hits. The Sabres built up a 5-1 lead after four innings, but then things began to unravel in the top of the fifth.

The Muskies rallied to score five runs in the frame, chasing Marian starter Cory Martin from the game. The senior allowed five runs (4 earned) on just three hits and walked four before exiting. Jake Schaffhauser then came in for a third of an inning, allowing a run on three hits before Winfield came in to get out of the jam.

He went on to finish the eighth inning, while the offense got back on track to erase a two-run, 7-5, deficit. In the sixth inning, the Sabres batted around, bringing to the plate 10 batters.

Garrett Dorn came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out and drove a two-run single to left-center field to tie the game at 7-7. Jace Unrein and Phil Seis then untied the score with back-to-back RBI singles to make it 9-7. That chased away reliever Trent Schwalbach, but the Sabres weren't done yet. A Will Martin groundout preceded a Matt Bromley run-scoring single that made it 11-7.

Winfield the retired the side in order in the seventh and faced the minimum in the eighth, getting a double play after walking the leadoff batter. Thomas then came in for his second appearance in a row and scattered one hit before ending the game.

The Sabres will be back in action next Saturday, April 7, to host Dominican in a doubleheader at Herr-Baker Field. First pitch is slated for noon.