Marist hosted Monmouth University once again for an afternoon double header. In game one, pitcher Megan Haff started the game for the Red Foxes. The right-handed sophomore didn’t make it out of the first inning as she faced six batters and issued three walks, she only allowed one run though.
Monmouth led 1-0 after the first inning. In the second inning, the Red Foxes made a pitching change and brought in junior pitcher Calista Phippen. She came in after throwing 140 pitches in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday. Phippen was flawless and kept the Red Foxes in the game.
The Red Foxes struggled at the plate most of the day as they could only muster up three hits until the sixth inning where junior catcher Kaley Coltran came to plate and smacked a solo home run to left field to energize the Red Foxes. This tied up the game at one apiece.
The game stayed at 1-1 all the way until the seventh inning when sophomore Hannah Brock led off the inning with a walk and then junior Hailee Jantorno layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Brock to second base.
Senior Carolina Baratta was up next with a chance to do damage, but she ended up flying out. With two outs and Brock on second base, sophomore Sam Freeland needed a base hit to win the game. Freeland hit the ball to shortstop and junior Lindsey Baron overthrew freshmen first basemen Julia Thuer which allowed Brock to come in and score to give the Red Foxes a dramatic 2-1 walk off win victory.
The second game of the double header was a rough start for the Red Foxes as their senior starting pitcher Nicole Teague failed to record an out in the first inning, Teague faced six batters in the inning and surrendered four runs and walked four batters. The Red Foxes defense didn’t help Teague out as they committed two errors which led Monmouth to jump out to a 4-0 early lead.
Sophomore pitcher Kiley Myers entered the game in the second inning for Marist and only gave up one run, a sole home run to catcher Tommi Stowers which put Monmouth up 5-0.
The Red Foxes tried to chip away at the Hawks lead in the fifth inning. It started with sophomore Shea Walsh getting on base with a two-out single, followed with junior Alyssa Yarem doubling to left-center to drive in Walsh to cut the Monmouth lead 5-1.
The inning continued with senior Hunter Hand’s RBI single up the middle to bring Marist within three runs. The fourth inning ended up stalling out as the Red Foxes came away with two runs in the inning.
Monmouth stayed poised at the plate to put away the Red Foxes, in the top of the sixth. Junior Lindsey Baron led off the inning with a double. Baron then advanced to third base on a passed ball. Senior Kate Harrington followed that up with a double down the line to drive in Baron and give the Hawks a 6-2 lead. Monmouth’s sixth inning hitting barrage continued as senior Erika Coreth drove in the Hawks final run of the day to give Monmouth a 7-2 lead.
The Red Foxes had no answer from this final punch by Monmouth, no runs were scored in the rest of the game as the Red Foxes fell by a score of 7-2. Following the split, the Red Foxes now stand with a 1-3 record while Monmouth improved to 11-5 on the season.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things, but the lack of playing time and they were a little bit nervous today,” Ausanio said about the shaky pitching today.
“We opened up with the two time defending MAAC champs and we faced the best pitcher in the conference,” Ausanio said. “It’s a tough start to the season since we haven’t been used to live pitching. I knew it would be a low scoring day for us but our kids battled and we had a lot of opportunities with runners in scoring position.”
Marist will look to rebound from an early 1-3 start by traveling to Buffalo to face Canisius College in a four game series beginning April 20.
Edited by Nicholas Stanziale
Photo Credit: Marist College Athletics