Skip to main content

Foresters lose in CL Tourney championship tilt

The season came to an end for the Huntington University baseball team with a 9-1 loss to Marian University in the championship game of the Crossroads League Tournament on Wednesday, May 9, at Taylor University.

For the Foresters, the loss snapped a four-game winning streak at the double-elimination tournament that kept their season alive following a loss to Taylor on the competition’s second day, May 5. The defeat also ended Huntington’s bid for back-to-back crowns in the league tourney.

The Foresters, finishing the season 23-24, 16-10 in conference, fell behind by three runs in the first inning and were down by five after the fifth. The Knights added an insurance tally in the sixth and put the game further out of reach with another three-run inning, this time in the seventh. Coach Mike Frame’s squad tallied their lone run of the contest in the eighth when junior Matt Kunce smacked a solo home run, which brought the game’s scoring to a close.

Huntington was limited to four hits in the first eight innings by Marian hurler Matt Burleton, whose lone miscue was giving up Kunce’s round-tripper. Burleton issued just two walks and racked up nine strikeouts as he picked up the win. He was relieved by Reese Wills, who tossed a perfect frame of relief.

DJ Moore took the loss for the Foresters. The junior, 3-7, pitched the first five innings, permitting six hits and five runs, three of which were earned. He also walked two and fanned five.

The Knights were led at the plate by Evan Hickman, who registered three hits and two runs batted in.

With the win, Marian’s record improves to 24-25, 14-12 in league play and the Knights will head to the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament.