With a current 12-18 record, the Marist softball team is looking to continue their winning streak after sweeping Holy Cross in a home double header last Thursday.
Army West Point will travel to Poughkeepsie for their only meetings with the Red Foxes this season. The Red Foxes and the Black Knights have yet to face any of the same teams for the 2018 season, yet both have been struggling against larger opponents.
The Red Foxes’ Season
The Red Foxes have been travelling each weekend since the beginning of the 2018 season, facing opponents such as Villanova, URI and Santa Clara University. The Foxes have seen their fair share of losses yet a decent amount of wins with their current standing of 12-18.
In their matchup on March 18th, the Red Foxes faced Texas A&M and saw a 4-1 loss to the current 29-4 record team. The game was controlled by Reveille’s yet Marist held their own and picked up more hits (7) than Texas A&M (6) but also left more runners on base (Red Foxes 10, Aggies 5).
The Last Time They Played Army
In the 2017 season the Red Foxes faced Army in a double header and took two losses, first a 4-6 where Marist stayed off of the board until the sixth inning where Sophomore Brandi Coon scored two and ensured fielding errors. The Foxes saw the loss yet continued to show their strength throughout the innings.
In the second match up the Foxes fell once more 2-1 where Army was able to strike early with a run in the first. The Foxes challenged and had several players hit third base several times, yet couldn’t make it even with the Knights.
Army’s Season
The Black Knights are currently 12-19, Army has faced major teams such as Jacksonville University and UC Riverside, coming out with major loses contributing to their current record. The Knights ended their 2017 season 36-21 and made it to their league, the Patriot League, tournament coming out with a loss in the end.
The Knights have been a team to watch for several years, yet the Foxes came out on top twice in the 2016 season, making the matchup one to watch.
What To Look For
Coming off of the Foxes’ trip to Texas, they saw several stars emerge. Junior pitcher Megan Beiermeister had an ERA of 1.76 and the most wins for the Foxes. Beiermeister earned MAAC Pitcher of the Week in early March for her wins as well as earning a shutout against Santa Clara University (7-0). The junior struck out 12 and allowed eight hits as the opposition batted just .163 against her. Beiermeister followed up by allowing only five hits in a 6-1 triumph against Santa on March 11, as she needed just 93 pitches to toss a complete game.
Ali Milam, a sophomore infielder earned MAAC Player of the Week for the week of March 20 having a .458 batting average, .536 on-base percentage, and a .833 slugging percentage to go along with two home runs and eight RBI. In an extra-inning win over Houston Baptist on March 14, Milam drove in five of the Red Foxes’ six runs, including a three-run home run and the game-winning RBI in the ninth inning.
Army’s Lacey Swafford, a sophomore infielder earned the Patriot League’s Player of the Week for the week of March 19th as she hit a .524 in the six games for the Black Knights, with a .619 slugging percentage and a .565 on-base percentage. The Sophomore tallied five straight multi-hit performances against Manhattan, Quinnipiac, Butler, Buffalo and Chattanooga. Swafford also combined for five runs and two doubles.
Both Army and Marist had freshmen earn Rookie of the Week awards on March 20th. Marist’s infielder Caroline Baratta and Army’s Courtney Springman attained the accolades while Springman also took home Pitcher of the Week.
The Game
Game 1 of the doubleheader between Marist and Army will start at 2pm on the Gartland Field.
