Marist baseball traded blows with Fairleigh Dickinson in a back-and-forth affair, but the Knights ultimately used a five-run walkfest in the eighth inning to secure a 10-7 victory.
Three Red Fox (5-14) pitchers combined to walk in five batters in the eighth inning, four of which forced in runs, and collectively, the Marist staff issued a whopping 12 walks total in the game.
FDU entered the game red-hot, having won four in a row after starting the season 2-12. They dominated on all fronts during the winning streak, outscoring opponents 42-10 during that span.
Marist graduate student pitcher Nate Chudy made his Red Fox debut in today’s matchup. Chudy, who posted a 6.30 ERA over his last four-year career at Holy Cross, missed the season’s first few weeks due to an injury.
It was a rough go of it for Chudy in his first start of the season, as FDU’s offense got off to a fast start in the first inning by loading the bases with no outs. Graduate student outfielder Brian Sanders drew a one-out walk with the bases loaded to drive in the game’s first run and give the Knights a 1-0 lead. That walk chased Chudy from the game, marking the end of a short and shaky Red Fox debut for the transfer.
Graduate student pitcher Jack Wren entered the game for the Red Foxes and promptly registered a strikeout and a foul pop-out, sneaking the Red Foxes out of trouble without surrendering more than a run.
The Marist offense remained silent through the first two innings against senior pitcher Nicholas Feretic, who punched out four of the seven batters he faced across those two innings; the only Marist baserunner against him reaching on an error.
That all changed in the top of the third inning, as the Red Foxes found their grove and plated three runs. Junior catcher Cole Casamento led off with a single to left center, followed by a double from No. 9 hitter, graduate student outfielder Colin Mackle, to set up the Red Foxes. Leadoff hitter and freshman outfielder Lewis Rodriguez then struck with his third home run in the past five games to catapult Marist to a 3-1 lead.
Marist was set up for more in the inning, getting runners to second and third with still nobody out immediately after Rodriguez’s homer. However, Feretic managed to avoid further damage by recording the next three outs in order.
The Knights fought right back in the bottom of the inning. Wren started the inning by allowing a base hit to graduate student outfielder Justin Sierra, who stayed hot after going 9-for-20 over the Knights’ previous four games. Freshman pitcher Andrew Fierro then entered the game for Marist and quickly gave up an RBI triple to his first batter faced, senior infielder Hunter D’Amato, who scored Sierra all the way from first. D’Amato then came home on a sac fly from the next hitter, Franklin Gomez Jr., to even the score at three before Fierro worked his way out of the inning without further damage.
FDU threatened in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs, but failed to score in part because of a fantastic diving catch by graduate student outfielder Johnny Decker. The Red Foxes retook a 4-3 lead in the fifth on a bloop RBI single by sophomore infielder Ethan Conrad that scored Decker after he walked and stole second base. The stolen base was Decker’s team-leading ninth of the season.
After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth, senior pitcher Lance Koenig replaced Fierro on the mound for the Red Foxes. The second batter he faced, FDU freshman outfielder Joey DiMotta, launched a two-run homer that just scraped over the right field wall for the first of his college career, giving the Knights a 5-4 lead.
FDU’s starter, Feretic, fought through five innings of four-run ball before being replaced to begin the sixth by graduate pitcher Jake Simon. Simon struggled, walking the first two batters he faced, before committing a throwing error that allowed a run to score, tying the game at 5-5. Later in the inning, after two outs were recorded, Casamento scored on a passed ball by graduate student catcher Ben Avila. Redshirt junior third baseman Marco Ali then slammed an RBI double to extend the Marist lead to 7-5.
In the eighth, Marist loaded the bases against pitcher Ian Barrett with a single and a couple of walks but helped him out of the inning when Conrad swung at a 3-0 pitch and flew out to left, ending the threat.
The missed scoring opportunities ultimately came back to haunt Marist. Sophomore pitcher Tyler Hartley ran out of gas, allowing a leadoff home run to Avila that cut the Marist lead in half. He then gave up an infield single to the final batter he faced before freshman pitcher Colin Carver entered. Carver faced only two batters, allowing another single and a walk. Junior pitcher Chris Ubner then took the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out and proceeded to strike out two in a row, giving Marist a chance to escape the inning without any further damage.
The inning then spiraled completely out of control, with command once again becoming a massive issue for the Red Foxes, as has been the case all season. Ubner walked the next two batters he faced, with each free pass forcing in runs and giving FDU an 8-7 lead. Senior pitcher Brian Yetter fared no better for Marist, walking his first two batters to force in another two runs and make the score 10-7.
With the Red Foxes slumping to a 5-14 record to open the season, they will aim to fair better in MAAC conference play, which begins on Friday when they travel to Jersey City, N.J. to take on Saint Peter’s. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Photo from Marist Athletics via Stockton Photo
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