The Redmen headed downstate for a stretch of games this weekend, starting off with a doubleheader against Carrollton Friday and they ended up splitting it with the Cavaliers.

Marquette lost the first game 2-1, even though it ended up outhitting Carrollton on the stat sheet. The Redmen got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third when Blake Henriksen hit a liner through the infield that scored Erik Johnson. However, the Cavs answered back in their half of the frame, pushing across two runs, and they held on the rest of the way for the win. Henriksen took the loss for Marquette despite giving up only two hits and one walk, while racking up six strikeouts.

The Redmen rebounded in the second game, crushing Carrollton 14-3 in five innings. Marquette got its bats going quickly, picking up two runs in the first and then seven in the second. The Redmen kept rolling from there, eventually mercy-ruling the Cavs.

Henriksen led Marquette at the plate with two hits and three runs scored, while Peter VandenAvond had three RBI. Johnson, Jon Jason and Connor Steer all had two hits for the Redmen. Kennan Johnson earned the win on the hill for Marquette, throwing a one-hitter with three walks and three strikeouts.

“This (the opener) was a real tough game for us coming after a long ride and then playing in very strong and gusty winds,” Marquette head coach Spencer Larson said. “The balls were not carrying and we left way too many runners stranded. We made some mental mistakes on top of errors and that really cost us today. It’s still early season baseball and I expect we will not make those mistakes as the season progresses

“We played much better in the second game. We still committed too many errors, but we hit the ball real well and were much more disciplined at the plate and were able to get timely hitting to move the runners around and score in every inning.”

On Saturday, things didn’t go so well for the Redmen at the Saginaw Heritage Invitational Classic.

Marquette was mercy-ruled in both games, an 11-0 loss to the host Hawks, and a 12-0 defeat to DeWitt in the consolation bracket.

In the opener, Heritage pushed across four runs in the first and then kept piling on from there. The Redmen were held to just one hit and defensive issues continued to plague them as they committed four errors.

Brendan Kaski was dealt the loss after surrendering seven hits and five walks with two strikeouts.

Things got worse for Marquette against DeWitt. The Panthers scored in every inning before putting the game away with eight runs in the fourth. The Redmen only had two hits, a double from Henriksen and a base hit from Eyn Nye. Jake Allard-Soucey was handed the loss after giving up nine hits with three walks and zero strikeouts.

“We weren’t ready to play today and it showed,” Larson said. “With so many kids out of the lineup and kids playing all over the place, I don’t think we were mentally ready to go today. They were a good ball club, don’t get me wrong, but we are much better than these two games indicate.”

The Redmen travel to Escanaba today.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg.