The Marian University Ancilla Charger baseball team returned to the field Monday morning and certainly found their offense, outscoring the Ridgewater Warriors (MN) 24-16 in a pair of victories. Not only that, but they had offensive outbursts of 4, 5, and yes, 13 runs in different innings throughout the day. Below is a quick recap of both wins from Monday, which pushed the Chargers to a 6-4 record on the season thus far.

GAME-1: In the top of the 1st inning, Sophomore Conner Boone led off with a single and was then moved over to 2nd base by Sophomore Kennon Kemp's sacrifice bunt. Sophomore catcher Austin Hear continued his early season hot streak, doubling home Boone to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. The Warriors would respond in the bottom of the 1st, however, putting together a 1-out double, then a walk, a 2-out single, followed by a hit batsman and another walk, and suddenly it was 2-1 Ridgewater through one complete inning. Marian Ancilla countered in the top of the 2nd with a pair of walks, a bunt single by Sophomore James Riddle, then a sacrifice fly to left field by Boone, scoring Freshman Aiden Diaz, and it was 2-2. Fast forward to the top of the 4th, and the bats went crazy. All in all, the Chargers managed 6 singles, 3 doubles, 3 walks, and reached on an error twice, plus Sophomore Tyler Bumbalough blasted his first home run of the season, a 2-run shot to left, and the Chargers led 15-2. MUAC sent 19 batters to the plate in the inning, batting around twice! By the bottom of the 5th and the score sitting at 15-2, it looked like this one might be over early, but credit to the Warriors as they scored 5 runs of their own before an out was had, and 6 runs total in the inning. That 15-8 score would hold up until the end, and MUAC improved to 5-4 on the season. Freshman Jaden Franceschina (2-1) picked up his second win of the year behind 3 innings of 2-hit baseball. Sophomore Nolan Green was credited with his third save of the season, as he pitched the 7th inning, walked one and struck out one.

GAME-2: The second game of the day was another offensive outburst, but it ended up being much closer down the stretch. Ridgewater used a leadoff walk and an RBI double to get on the board first, so it was 1-0 after half of an inning. Immediately to begin the bottom of the first, four Chargers walked to tie the game 1-1. Sophomore Hunter Smith then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Chargers a 2-1 lead. Following a pop out over the infield, Aiden Diaz crushed a line drive double to right, scoring two runners, and it was 4-1 MUAC after one full inning. The bottom of the 2nd inning started out well also, as the Chargers managed a walk, they reached on an error, and then a bunt single by Kennon Kemp loaded the bases. Austin Hear hit a sacrifice fly to right field, and it was 5-1 MUAC. Tyler Bumbalough was hit by a pitch, loading the bases again, when a walk by Smith, a double by Freshman Blaze Schultz, and another sacrifice fly, this time by Diaz, pushed the Marian Ancilla lead out to 9-1. Unfortunately, that was the last time the Chargers would score on the day. They now had to fend off a Warrior rally, and did the Warriors rally. Ridgewater got a run back in the top of the 4th following three consecutive singles and it was 9-2. In the top of the 5th, a series of a hit batsman, a walk, an error, and a single provided them with 2 more runs, and it was 9-4. It got even dicier in the top of the 7th, as Ridgewater led off with two hit batsmen, then a fielder's choice with no play loaded the bases. That was followed by a single, a double, and a groundout producing a run. Suddenly it was 9-8 with just one out. Freshman Traevyn Shoaf took the mound and got a big strikeout on a full count, before producing a ground out on another full count to end the game. In his first start of the year, Sophomore Christian Conder (1-0) picked up his first victory, going 4 2/3 innings, allowing 4 runs, but only 2 were earned. He also struck out 5 batters. Shoaf was credited with his first save of the season, as he finished the 7th inning, allowed one hit, and recorded the one huge strikeout.

NOTES: Through 10 games, Austin Hear (.452, 10 RBIs) and Kennon Kemp (.419, 10 RBIs) lead the Chargers in batting average and runs batted in. Kemp and Conner Boone also lead the way with 4 stolen bases apiece. Jaden Franceschina (13 Ks) and Nathan Marshman (10 Ks) lead the team in strikeouts, and each has a pair of wins on the season. Nolan Green's 3 saves leads the team as well.

Marian Ancilla baseball next takes the field tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6th, when they continue their Florida tour with a double-header against Minnesota North College-Vermilion. The games are scheduled for 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. ET at the Northeast Regional Park baseball fields in Davenport, Florida. Good luck, Chargers!!