ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - The Marian University baseball team closed its annual spring trip on Wednesday with a doubleheader split with the University of St. Francis (Ill.) at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla. The Knights extended their winning streak to four games with a 5-2 win in game one, but fell by a 15-5 count in game two to head back to Indiana with a 4-4 overall mark.

Pitching was at a premium after six games in three days, but the Knights were able to persevere by committee in game one. Senior Tony Goodpaster (Avon, Ind./Wabash) made the start and allowed one earned run on eight hits over five-and-one-third innings to pick up his first victory. Junior Jake Mullis (Coatesville, Ind./North Putnam) closed out the sixth with a pair of outs, while sophomore Caleb Small (Arcadia, Ind./Hamilton Heights) earned his first career save with a scoreless, hitless seventh inning of relief.

The offense put Goodpaster on top in the bottom of the first inning as freshman lead-off hitter Brett Metcalf (Lebanon, Ind./Lebanon) wrapped a 2-0 pitch around the right field foul pole to stake Goodpaster a 1-0 lead. After sophomore Evan Schludecker (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) singled to right, junior Todd Ungru (Madison, Ind./Shawe Memorial) hammered a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall for a two-run home run to extend the lead to 3-0 with no outs.

Back-to-back singles by junior Austin Gibson (Indianapolis, Ind./Transylvania) and sophomore James Storms (Camby, Ind./Plainfield) gave freshman Joel Solis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) an RBI opportunity. Solis didn't disappoint as he ripped a single to the right center field gap to score sophomore Jeff Marschand (Galveston, Ind./Lewis-Cass), who was courtesy running for Gibson, to give the Knights a 4-0 lead.

They added one more in the bottom of the third on an RBI-sacrifice fly by Gibson to take a 5-0 lead. That was all Goodpaster and the defense would need. The Saints scored one in the sixth and seventh, but Ungru snagged a liner and tapped first base for a game-ending double play and a 5-2 win. The double play was the fourth of the game and the Knights stranded 10 USF runners over seven innings.

Ungru finished 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI, while Storms was 2-for-2 on the day. Metcalf finished 1-for-4 with a solo bomb and an RBI, while Gibson, Schludecker, Solis, and junior Bobby Willis (North Vernon, Ind./Jennings County) each added a hit.

However, game two showed the Knights had run dry on their pitching as the Saints posted nine runs in the first inning and scored six more over the next three innings to open a 15-0 lead on MU.

The Knights made a game of it in the seventh as Willis walked in a run, junior Cory Emmons (Indianapolis, Ind./Lutheran) had an RBI-single, Schludecker had a two-run single, and sophomore Jared Mills (Cicero, ind./Hamilton Heights) added an RBI-fielder's choice to cut the final score to 15-5.

Schludecker led the Knights after he went 2-for-3 with two RBI in game two. Emmons and freshman Chad Schumann (Celina, Ohio/Celina) each had a hit for the Knights.

MU returns to Indiana and has a pair of days off before hitting the road at Manchester College on Sunday. The doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.