Marist baseball earned mixed results during their spring break trip to Virginia, going 3-4 overall while facing three separate opponents.
They won their first series of the season, taking two out of three from Richmond before being blown out in a single game by Virginia Tech and winning one out of three against Radford.
Pitching continues to be the deciding factor for the Red Foxes (5-13), with all three of their wins on the trip coming in games in which they allowed three runs or fewer and all four of their losses coming in games in which they conceded double-digit runs.
Marist got off to a fast start on the trip, taking the first two games of their series against Richmond. Sophomore pitcher Steven Mazza started the first game for Marist, delivering a quality start in which he allowed just two hits and no runs across five innings of work.
Both offenses were quiet until the sixth inning when Marist put up four runs to open the scoring. Graduate student outfielder Colin Mackle, freshman outfielder Lewis Rodriguez and graduate student outfielder Johnny Decker opened the inning with three consecutive singles. After two fielder’s choices and three errors by the Spiders’ defense, Marist emerged from the top half of the inning with a 4-0 lead. The Red Foxes added a fifth run on an RBI double from Mackle in the following inning.
Richmond scratched a single run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings against Marist senior pitcher Brian Yetter, but never put a substantial run together. Marist sophomore pitcher Tyler Hartley recorded the last five outs to earn the save and secure a 5-3 Marist win to open the series. Coming after a midweek win against Fordham, this started the Red Foxes’ first win streak of the season.
Graduate student pitcher Riley Orr started game two of the series, the first of a Sunday doubleheader. Orr delivered the second straight quality start for the Red Foxes, giving up one run in five innings.
The only blemish against Orr came in the first inning when he allowed three hits, including an RBI single to junior catcher Jason Shockley that gave the Spiders an early 1-0 lead. Orr induced a 3-6-1 double play to escape further damage. Orr cruised through the next four innings, allowing just two more hits.
Marist quickly struck back, knotting the game at one on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Kyle Pollack. They then jumped ahead with a two-run fourth inning thanks to RBI fielder’s choices from both graduate student infielder Justin Kapuscinski and sophomore infielder Bayram Hot.
The final run of the game came in the seventh when Kapuscinski drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the Red Fox lead to 4-1. Marist only recorded three hits in the game but walked seven times, while the Spiders committed three errors to aid their scoring.
Graduate student pitcher Jack Keenan took over for Orr in the sixth and turned in two hitless innings of relief before graduate student pitcher Jack Wren pitched the final two innings to earn his first career save, allowing no hits and striking out the side in the ninth to end the game and secure a 4-1 win for Marist, their third straight victory.
The second game of the doubleheader was a different story for Marist. They jumped ahead on a first-inning sacrifice fly from redshirt junior infielder Marco Ali. However, their starter, sophomore pitcher Will Taylor, quickly surrendered the lead by allowing a two-run homer to freshman infielder Joey Wilga in the bottom half of the inning.
Marist clawed back in the third inning when Kapuscinski brought home Ali with an RBI double before Richmond again struck right back, regaining the lead in the bottom half on an RBI double by redshirt freshman outfielder/pitcher Jackson Kraemer.
Marist let the game slip away in an eight-run sixth inning for the Spiders. Marist pitchers, sophomore AJ Thomas and junior Chris Ubner combined to give up eight runs while recording just one out. Marist pitching issued eight walks and hit five batters throughout the game as they continued to struggle with command.
Marist traveled to Blacksburg for a single game on Tuesday against powerful Virginia Tech. The Hokies, who entered the game 11-3, were not kind to the Red Foxes, dominating in all facets and earning a blowout win.
Virginia Tech piled onto their lead in the second inning thanks to the first three of their seven home runs on the day, going up 6-0. The lone bright spot for the Red Foxes came in the top of the seventh when Rodriguez launched his first career home run.
Virginia Tech’s offense was in control from start to finish, as they were only held scoreless in two different innings. They collected 19 hits and had two players, junior infielder Carson DeMartini and freshman infielder Jake Slade, launch two home runs each en route to a 20-2 victory. DeMartini stayed red-hot for the rest of the week, hitting seven total home runs and winning the ACC Player of the Week award.
After a few days off, the Red Foxes headed just down the road to Radford for a three-game weekend series against the Highlanders. Radford entered the series on a five-game losing streak to Georgia Southern and Notre Dame that saw them give up double-digit runs three times.
The first game remained scoreless through four innings before the Red Foxes struck in the top of the fifth. Junior infielder/outfielder Nathan Lincoln recorded a one-out infield single followed by a single from Mackle. Then, Rodriguez launched his second home run in as many games to propel Marist to a 3-0 lead. After an RBI double from Conrad, Marist emerged ahead 4-0, heading to the bottom of the inning.
Mazza was back on the mound for Marist and delivered his second consecutive quality start, going 5 1/3 innings while allowing just one run on two hits.
Marist put up one run in both the sixth and seventh innings thanks to RBI hits from Mackle and Kapuscinski, before the bullpen faltered and allowed the game slip away. Yetter and Hartley combined to give up nine runs – eight earned – across the seventh and eighth innings, including a grand slam to graduate infielder Conner Butler and a solo homer to graduate infielder Zack Whitacre, handing the Highlanders a 10-6 win.
The Red Foxes sought to rebound in game two of the series and managed to do just that. Orr got the start and pitched a sensational seven innings, allowing just two runs on four hits. Both runs came in the first inning, resulting in a 2-0 Marist deficit until the fourth inning when Kapuscinski stayed red hot by hitting his first home run of the season, a solo shot. During the Virginia trip, Kapuscinski hit .348, with seven of his eight hits going for extra bases while also driving in nine runs.
Marist knotted the game in the sixth inning when Hot delivered an RBI fielder’s choice before Conrad launched the game-winning three-run home run in the eighth, putting Marist ahead 5-2. Wren took over for Orr in the eighth and pitched the final two scoreless innings to earn his second save of the season and secure the Marist victory.
Heading into the rubber match with a 3-3 record on the Virginia trip, Marist had an opportunity to emerge from their foray down south a winning record.
The first two innings were scoreless before Marist jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third thanks to a Kapuscinski RBI double and a Hot RBI single. Radford answered right back with three runs of their own in the bottom half against Taylor, who got the start for Marist. Graduate infielder Gavin Troutman smashed a two-run homer that tied the game before an RBI groundout from Butler put Radford ahead. Graduate infielder Carson Bell and junior infielder Hunter Keen each hit solo homers of their own in the following inning, extending the Highlander lead to 5-2.
Hot launched his first home run of the season in the fifth to get Marist even at five, but Radford regained the lead in the bottom of the inning when redshirt junior catcher Drew Biggerstaff hit a three-run homer, his second long ball of the series. They added another run in the inning by executing a double steal of home, with freshman infielder/pitcher Mason Self swiping second and Bell swiping home on the play to make the score 9-5.
Lincoln provided an RBI single in the seventh for Marist’s sixth and final run before Radford scored two more runs on an RBI triple to secure their 11-6 victory.
For Marist, their pitching performance has been deleterious. The staff has posted a 9.63 ERA this season in addition to surrendering a MAAC conference-worst 29 home runs. In their 18 games this season, they have allowed fewer than 10 runs only seven times. In those seven games, the team is 5-2, underscoring the importance of run prevention to the team’s success. The offense has struggled as well, ranking second to last in the conference in runs scored. It has not helped that Marist hitters have consistently found themselves in deep holes due to the pitching woes, making it difficult to mount comebacks.
Hot, last year’s MAAC Rookie of the Year, has struggled to a .156 batting average this season, though the Red Foxes will hope his home run against Radford can get him going. Kapuscinski, Conrad, Mackle and Decker lead the way offensively, each sporting an OPS over .800.
Next up for Marist is a single game on Wednesday at Fairleigh Dickinson before opening conference play on Friday with a three-game weekend series in Jersey City against Saint Peter’s.
Edited by Sam Murphy and Luke Sassa
Photo from Marist Athletics via Stockton Photo
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