JONESBORO--- For 14 innings across a varsity doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon, the Marion softball team impressed against league rival Nettleton. The Patriots scored 24 runs in two games, highlighted by eight home runs, and the defense played mostly clean ball. Marion (10-5 overall, 4-2 5A East) never trailed in the opener at Nettleton Sports Complex en route to a 15-5 victory, but a seven-run Nettleton (8-7, 2-4) inning in the top of the first in the nightcap cost the Patriots in an 11-9 extra-inning loss. “We hit the ball well all night long,” said Marion coach Sean Gray. “I felt like we outplayed them all night, except for that one inning. For one half-inning we were in a funk, we couldn't get an out, and it led to our downfall.” Lead-off batter Kelsey Baker (3-5, three runs scored, a home run, and an RBI in game No. 1) got Marion off to a fast start in the opener. Baker led off with a single and promptly stole second base before coming to the plate on McKenzie Shinabery's (2-4, four runs and an RBI) single. Marion rightfielder Kelsey Eppes (5-5, four runs, and three RBI) plated Shinabery with a single, and Eppes came around on Anna Hitchman's (3-5, five RBI, three runs, and two home runs) base hit. Junior starter Anna Murphy surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom of the first before settling in. The all-state performer worked seven innings for the victory in Game No. 1. Murphy allowed 11 hits, five runs (four earned), while striking out four at Nettleton. Baker was up to her old tricks again leading off the third, as she stroked the first Marion home run of the day deep to left field to push the Pats back in front 3-2. Emerson Miller (3-5 with three runs) followed with a single, which preceded a Shinabery double. Eppes came through again, scoring Miller with a single, and pushing Shinabery to third. Hitchman pounced on a 1-0 pitch and deposited it on the other side of the fence for a three-run bomb that gave Marion a 7-2 lead entering the bottom of the third. Miller socked a one-out single in the fourth before Shinabery reached on an error. Murphy helped her own cause with an RBI groundout, and when Eppes plated Shinabery with a double, Marion led 9-2 after four. Eppes recorded a one-out double in the sixth just ahead of Hitchman's towering round-tripper for an 11-2 advantage. Baker and Miller reached with one out in the seventh when Murphy scored Baker with a single. That summoned Eppes, who poled a three-run home run to put a bow on Marion's huge offensive explosion. “When we hit the ball like that, we're tough to beat,” said Gray. “We made plays, and did a good job pretty much all over.” While Marion could do no wrong in the lid-lifter, it was Nettleton that proved the aggressor in the nightcap. Nettleton marched 14 batters to the plate in the top of first, scoring seven times. The first seven Raiders reached and scored for a 7-0 lead entering the bottom of the first. The Pats got on the board in the bottom of the first when Miller (2-3, five RBI, three runs scored, and two home runs in the second game) cracked a homer to left field, but Marion trailed 7-1 after an inning. Marion's defense tightened up after the seven-run first, as well. Murphy (eight innings pitched, 12 hits, eight earned runs, and five strikeouts) retired 15 consecutive batters, bridging the first and sixth innings to keep the Pats in the game. Marion's defense played a role in that stretch, as well. The Patriot defense logged 12 putouts, including an impressive pair of plays by shortstop Brianna Morquecho and Hitchman snatching a line drive to steal a hit. While the Marion defense held the fort, the offense woke up in the second, when Eppes (2-4 and a run scored) doubled ahead of Hitchman's (1-1, three intentional walks, two RBI, and a run) third home run of the day, this one a line shot to left-center field to get the Pats within 7-3. Shinabery, who went 2-4 in the second contest, stepped in with one out in the bottom of the fifth and worked the count full. Marion's centerfielder turned on the 3-2 offering and cleared the fence for a round-tripper to get the Pats within 7-5. Nettleton added a disputed insurance run on a close play at the plate in the top of the sixth for an 8-5 lead, but Marion was far from done. Morquecho led off the sixth with a single before senior Micah Cupples coaxed a walk to give Marion a pair of runners. Miller stepped in facing a 2-2 count with one out and pulled a pitch behind the left-field fence for a dramatic three-run home run that tied the game at 8. Nettleton went in order in the top of the seventh, and the Raiders intentionally walked Hitchman with one out in the home half of the seventh. Catcher Jacey Holder dropped down a textbook sacrifice bunt to move Hitchman into scoring position, but Nettleton retired the side to force extra innings. Starting the eighth inning with a runner on second, Nettleton freshman Sydney Huntsman led off with a single to give the Raiders a 9-8 lead. Catcher Kate Golden plated Huntsman with a double, and Golden came around on a hit to lead 11-8. Marion senior leftfielder Gracie Griffin bunted for a hit that moved Morquecho to third, giving the Pats three opportunities to plate the tying run. Miller struck a sac fly to get Marion within 11-9 before the last two Marion batters went in order. “We dug a hole too deep, and couldn't come back,” said Gray. “We've done that a few times this year, and couldn't get out of the hole.” Marion plays this weekend at a tournament in Benton before returning on Tuesday to conference play at Paragould. The varsity doubleheader will be streamed live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.