SEARCY --- It was a tale of two games yesterday at Searcy Sports Complex as Marion battled Searcy in a varsity doubleheader. Marion could do no wrong in the opener, scoring 15 runs on 14 hits in a 15-2 five-inning victory to open league play. Junior centerfielder McKenzie Shinabery sparked the Marion attack by reaching base in all five of her plate appearances, including five RBI, four hits, and two runs scored. Shinabery recorded a diving play in centerfield to snuff out a Searcy rally for good measure. Marion scored multiple runs in four of its five plate appearances. The nightcap was a different story, however. Marion committed six errors, leading to six unearned runs in a 9-6 loss that leaves the Patriots (3-2 overall, 1-1 5A East) and Lions tied in the 5A East standings after two games. “Doubleheaders are tough against a good team,” said Marion coach Sean Gray. “An error is one run for sure, and some people count them as two runs. When you give a good team opportunities as we did, you just dig too big a hole to get out of.” The potential of Marion's offense was on full display in the opener when the Patriots scored three batters into the opening inning when Kelsey Baker led off the game by reaching on a hit by pitch. Baker promptly stole second and moved to third when the throw trickled into center field. Shinabery plated Baker with a bunt single over the pitcher's head for a 1-0 Marion lead. Marion threatened again in the second inning when catcher Jacey Holder walked, Micah Cupples singled, and Emerson Miller walked to load the bases with two outs. Enter Shinabery, who drove the ball into the left-center field gap for a three-run triple that put Marion firmly in control with a 4-0 lead. While the Marion offense hit high gear, junior pitcher Anna Murphy handcuffed Searcy inside the circle. The lefty all-state performer of a season ago retired the first eight batters she faced, including a pair of strikeouts. Marion led 7-0 before Murphy allowed a baserunner. Marion's ace hurled five innings, surrendered six hits, and allowed just a pair of runs in her first conference start this season. Marion's bats were back in the third when sophomore Kelsey Eppes led off with a single and scored from first on an Anna Hitchman double. Shortstop Brianna Morquecho plated Hitchman with a double into the right-center field gap to give Marion a 6-0 advantage. The Patriots led 7-0 after three plate appearances as Morquecho came around when Cupples reached on an error. Shinabery and Murphy walked and scored in the fourth, and Marion sent 13 batters to the plate in the fifth, scoring eight times on six hits. The offensive display started with Murphy, who drove in Baker and Shinabery with a two-run double. Murphy and Eppes came around on Hitchman's two-run single. Senior Claire Hall plated Hitchman and Morquecho with a pinch-hit, two-run single, and Shinabery capped her day with a two-run single that plated Hall and Baker. “We kind of changed their strategy on the doubleheader because we knocked their pitcher out,” said Gray. “We were doing our thing out there in the first game. I thought we hit, pitched, defended, and ran the bases really smart.” Searcy took advantage of three Marion errors in the top of the first in game No. 2, scoring four times, and leaving a pair of runners on the bags. The Pats struck back in the home half of the first when Baker walked, stole second, and scored on Shinabery's sacrifice fly. Miller singled and came around on a passed ball, but Searcy led 4-2 after an inning. Back on the mound in the nightcap, Murphy settled in after the first inning. The junior surrendered just two hits in the second, third, and fourth innings while barring the Lions from the scoreboard. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Marion went back to work when Murphy led off with a single ahead of an Eppes triple that got the Pats within 4-3. Morquecho's single plated Eppes to tie the game as the energetic Marion shortstop hyped up her dugout. In the top of the fifth, Searcy pounded out six hits and took advantage of three more Marion errors to score five runs for a 9-4 lead. Eppes and Hitchman walked leading off the bottom of the sixth when Morquecho plated both with a two-run single. The rally extended when Cupples singled to left field, giving Marion two on with just one out. Following a Baker flyout, Miller approached the plate as the tying run. The senior lofted a fly ball down the right-field line that went off the outfielder's glove and landed in foul ground. Running on contact with two outs, Morquecho and Cupples had already scored as Miller sprinted towards third, but the umpires ruled the ball foul. Two pitches later, Searcy escaped the jam when Miller flew out to center. Shinabery singled leading off the seventh, but no more runs would score for Marion. Marion travels to Gulf Shores, Alabama to play in a spring break tournament next week. The Patriots return home Tuesday, March 29 to host 5A East rival Jonesboro in a conference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.