MILWAUKEE - Marian University baseball (9-27, 1-17 NACC) earned their first conference win in a split with Wisconsin Lutheran with a 7-5 loss in the opener followed by an 8-6 victory.

The Sabre offense started the doubleheader fast opening up a 5-0 lead after two innings to start the twin bill.  Adam Ryan opened the scoring with an RBI single to score Earl Vorpagel before Mitchel Buss was caught in a run down that allowed Tony Grannis to steal home in the first frame.  Marian continued to find a rhythm offensively in the second with Jake Falish driving in Cody Schaefer, Vorpagel bringing in Jordan Walker on a single, and Ryan driving in Vorpagel for the second time in as many innings.

Wisconsin Lutheran was able to battle back with a run in the bottom of the second followed by four runs in the third to tie the game at 5-5.  The Warriors continued to score efficiently with a run in the fifth and a run in the seventh, while the WLC starter settled down to shut down the Sabre offense the remainder of the game.

Falish, Vorpagel, Ryan, and Walker each had a multi-hit game led by Vorpagel's 2-4 game with two runs scored and a run batted in.

Jordan Bock (3-3) took the loss throwing the final 5.1 innings only allowing one earned run off of five base hits.

In the second half of the twin bill, Marian once again jumped out to the early lead with Brett Kramer bringing in Jordan Bill off an error in the second, and Eddie Spies driving a sacrifice fly into center to score Vorpagel in the third.

The Sabres extended their lead in the top of the fifth with another RBI from Spies that scored Walker, before WLC got on the board to cut the lead to 3-1 with a run in the bottom half of the inning.

MU would put together their strongest inning just before the stretch with Spies driving in Vorpagel, Grannis bringing in Falish, and Bill scoring Spies to put the Marian lead at 6-1.  The offense continued to churn in the next inning with Spies continuing his hot day with another RBI, and Grannis driving in Spies to put the score at 8-1.

Austin Hansen (4-6) had been strong through seven innings only allowing three hits, but WLC was finally able to start a rally scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth before Sam Long shut the door to close the inning.

Long continued to pitch well only allowing a two-out double to earn his first career save and clinch the 8-6 victory.

Spies finished the game going 2-5 with two runs scored to go with four runs batted, while Grannis also had a multi-hit game going 2-5 with a pair of runs batted in.

Marian plays a pair of non-conference road games opening with a game at Carthage tomorrow, Tuesday, May 3, with a 6 p.m. first pitch.

--FightBlueFight--