With winds strong enough to knock your hat off, the Red Foxes took the field for their second doubleheader in three days. Marist battled against the University of Hartford Hawks in which they split the doubleheader Wednesday.
On Monday, the Red Foxes split its series with the Iona Gaels. Four games in three days may seem like a lot, but it is nothing new for a college softball team.
“Doubleheaders are long days, long hours in the field, but it was our decision to play,” said senior third baseman Claire Oberdorf.
After no runs were scored from either side of the dugout in the first inning, it was the Red Foxes who were able to strike first on the day. With the bases loaded, freshman Morgan Gianelle singled into right field to bring in Oberdorf and Brandi Coon. While Coon and Oberdorf were scoring, freshman catcher Kaley Coltrain made it to third with her eyes on home. To keep the Marist run going, first baseman Olivia Knopf popped out to right field on a sacrifice fly that brought home Coltrain.
Hartford was able to get one run back in the fourth inning. The pitching rotation that consisted of starter Brooke Peterson, and senior relief pitchers Kallen Leeseberg and Megan Beiermeister, proved to be very effective only allowing the Hawks to score once off of five hits. Each pitcher also added two strikeouts to their stat line. The scored held up after the fourth inning to give Marist a 3-1 victory in game one.
Head Coach Joe Ausanio mentioned after Monday’s series that the team needed to improve defensively. “I thought we pitched well and cleaned up our defense today,” Ausanio said.
In the second game of the day, it was Marist sophomore Nicole Teague who opened from the mound. The Hawks came out swinging early, scoring two runs to start the game. The Hawks struck again in the third inning, advancing a runner around the bases to third. Ausanio then walked to the mound to call in his freshman pitcher Calista Phippen. For the game, Teague faced 11 batters and allowed four hits that brought in three runs for Hartford. Following Phippen’s entrance, the Hawks added another run in the third inning, scoring off of an error, extending their lead to 3-0.
Hartford tacked on another run in the fourth off of an RBI triple. However, in the bottom of the inning, the Red Foxes were able to go on a small run. Oberdorf took a pitch off the arm to put herself on base. Then, Kaley Coltrain singled, advancing Oberdorf to second. An errant pitch behind the Hartford catcher moved the runners into scoring position. Coach Ausanio then made a call to substitute Coltrain for Morgan Gianelle to pinch run. With another wild pitch, Oberdorf sprinted home and beat the pitcher’s tag to get the Red Foxes on the scoreboard. Freshman outfielder Alyssa Yarem then singled out to first, bringing home Gianelle from third, cutting the score 4-2.
After their two-run inning in the fourth inning, Marist only collected one more hit for the rest of the day, and ultimately lost 4-2.
The Marist offense produced five hits in each game.
“It was a tough wind day, but I expected more from our offense,” Ausanio said. “We didn’t get timely hits when we needed them,”
The Red Foxes come out of their midweek doubleheader with a 17-15 overall record. Marist will look to build some momentum as they travel down to New Jersey this weekend to face St. Peter’s University.
Edited by David Salamone