Monday, the Marian University Ancilla Baseball team completed their late-weekend round robin in a final tune-up before heading to Florida for their annual Spring Break games. In the afternoon, the Chargers faced Highland Community College for the second day in a row, dropping a 7-4 outcome. Then, in the evening, they suffered an extra inning heart-breaker, falling to Milwaukee Area Technical College in 11 innings, 14-5. Below is a quick recap of each of those games.

GAME-1: In the bottom of the 1st inning, it looked like MUAC might get on the board first, as they had the bases loaded with 1 out. But following a double play, the game remained scoreless heading into the 2nd. Each of the next three innings saw a hit or a walk (or two), but not much more offense by either team until Highland came to bat in the top of the 5th inning. Following a single, a hit batsman, and a walk came consecutive singles, then a double with two outs, and it was suddenly 5-0 Cougars. The Chargers picked up a pair of runs in the bottom of the 5th, as Freshman Caden Taylor walked with the bases loaded to score Freshman Wes McNeff. Then, Freshman Jose Paris singled to right field, allowing Freshman Tanner Coble to score, and it was 5-2 Highland through 5 innings.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Coble singled on a line drive to left field, scoring Freshman Isaak Osborne, and the Highland lead was trimmed to 5-3. But the Cougars would answer with two more runs in the top of the 7th inning, extending their lead to 7-3. The Chargers were able to manufacture one more run in the bottom of the 7th, when Osborne hit into a fielder's choice, scoring Paris, and that produced the final margin of 7-4. Redshirt Freshman Aiden Diaz got the start and went 4 1/3 innings. Diaz (0-1) was credited with the loss.

GAME-2: In the evening contest, the Chargers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Freshman Jaxson Hixson was hit by a pitch, Freshman Nolan Pizzo walked, then Jose Paris singled on a line drive to center field, scoring Hixson for the first run of the game. Sophomore pinch-runner Blaze Schultz then scored on an error by the Stormers' pitcher, and it was 2-0. Milwaukee Tech was able to add a run in the top of the 5th and the top of the 7th innings, tying the game at 2-2.

In extra innings, the Stormers got things rolling with a leadoff triple in the 8th inning, followed by a single, scoring the runner on 3rd, and they held a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the 8th, Freshman Logan Clark led off with a walk and later advanced to 2nd base on a wild pitch. Then, with one out, Tanner Coble reached on an error as Clark crossed the plate to tie the game at 3-3.

Two innings later, in the top of the 10th inning, the Stormers used a walk, a single, and another walk to load the bases. Then, with two outs, a third walk allowed Milwaukee Tech to take a 4-3 lead. However, Marian Ancilla responded immediately to start the bottom of the 10th, as Clark hit a solo home run on a fly ball to right field, and it was again knotted, 4-4.

Unfortunately, in the 11th inning, Milwaukee Tech sent 15 batters to the plate, they scored 10 runs, and they amassed a 14-4 lead. The Chargers did collect one more run in the bottom of the 11th inning, providing the final outcome of 14-5. Freshman Rory Bradney grounded out to short, allowing courtesy runner Schultz to score for the second time. Freshman starting pitcher Kaleb Short did put together a nice start, going 6 1/3 innings allowing just 2 runs (neither earned), and he struck out 7 batters over that span. Redshirt Freshman Nico Galea (0-1) was credited with the loss in relief.

The Charger Baseball team now has a few final days of school before Spring Break begins, then they will face Jackson College in Florida on Sunday, March 2nd. Please stay tuned as we will do our best to monitor the team's play throughout their week down South!! Their first true home game is currently schedule for Sunday, March 16th, when they host Olive-Harvey out of Chicago.