Marion scored first on Monday afternoon at AR Construction Stadium against league powerhouse Greene County Tech.
The Patriots carried the lead to the fourth inning, but the Eagles took off from there.
Tech scored the final five runs of the first contest of Monday's doubleheader for a 5-1 victory, and the Eagles never trailed in the nightcap, claiming a 12-2 win and an eighth straight conference championship.
Marion (18-11 overall, 11-3 5A East) will settle for the No. 2 playoff seed and a conference runner-up finish one year after missing the state tournament.
The Patriots will open their run at this year's state tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 15, against the No. 3 seed from the 5A South.
A Marion victory there would propel the Pats into the quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16, with a potential semifinal contest at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 17.
You can watch every Marion postseason game for free on the MPAN YouTube channel or at MarionPatriots.com.
Marion got good offensive showings in the first Greene County Tech game from Presley Kuhn, who finished 1-3 at the plate, while Chloe Miller and Kolbie Triplett each drew two walks apiece, while Sophie Moore also accepted a walk and scored a run.
Marion picked up a pair of runs in the top of the second inning of the nightcap, when Kendall Eppes finished 2-3, while Miller (1-1 with two walks and an RBI), Triplett (1-3), Stinson (1-3), and Madelyn Hamrick (1-2) each logged hits, and Presley Kuhn and Maddie Cupples scored runs.
The hosts were within 3-2 entering the bottom of the second inning, but Tech scored four times in the second and three more times in the third to pull away.
Marion got a stellar start in the first game from Cupples, who fired seven innings at the Eagles, walking only one batter, and she barred the visitors from the scoreboard until the fourth inning.
“I thought Cupples was phenomenal,” said Greene County Tech coach David Reynolds. “She was in the zone, hard to hit. She gave us a lot of problems.”
Cupples retired the first nine Eagles in succession, leading to the first big rally of the day for Marion in the home half of the third.
The Patriot uprising began when Moore walked, Hamrick was hit by a pitch, and by a Miller walk, loading the bases for Marion with nobody out.
Moore got a good read on a wild pitch and scored the game's first run, but Tech escaped the jam with a strikeout and a double play to squash the rally.
The Eagles responded with three runs in the fourth, and single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings for victory.
In the nightcap, Tech scored three times in the bottom of the first, but Marion rallied when Stinson stroked a single before Kuhn reached on an error, and Moore was hit by a pitch to give the Pats bases loaded with just one out.
A Miller walk forced in Cupples, who was representing Stinson, and Kuhn came down when Triplett reached on an error.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Marion concludes its 2025 regular season schedule on Friday afternoon with a non-conference contest at Maumelle. The Patriots open their run at the 2025 state tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 15, in Benton against the No. 3 team from the 5A South. You can watch every Marion softball postseason game for free on the MPAN YouTube channel or on MarionPatriots.com.