Marist baseball fell short in a midweek nonconference game to Hofstra, losing 8-6 Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Foxes (12-23, 5-7 MAAC conference) came into the contest having won four of their previous six games, a rare stretch of momentum for the club. Marist could not capitalize on their 15 hits, leaving 12 runners aboard as the Pride (12-24, 3-9 CAA conference) snapped a six-game losing streak in Poughkeepsie.
Junior pitcher Chris Ubner made his 12th appearance but first start of 2024 for Marist. The right-hander lasted three innings for the second time this season and set a new season high with four strikeouts. He induced six consecutive outs before the Pride found their way on base.
Freshman infielder Mike Sweeney got a base hit to start the third. After that, a walk, a wild pitch and an error brought Sweeney home, giving Hofstra the game’s first run. Ubner got out of a bases-loaded jam with a flyout before relinquishing the mound in the fourth.
Freshman pitcher Andrew Fierro came out of the Red Foxes’ bullpen and faced three batters in an appearance to forget. He walked the first batter before giving up a two-run home run to freshman infielder Joseph Mennella. Fierro walked the next batter, and that was enough for Marist head coach Lance Ratchford to call sophomore pitcher Nick Buchman into the game.
Freshman pitcher Tanner Sanderoff held Marist to one hit in the first three frames before exiting the game. The Red Foxes got on the board in the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly from junior catcher Cole Casamento that scored sophomore outfielder Austin Bohlman.
Hofstra’s offense kicked into gear with a 3-1 lead heading into the fifth. A base hit, walk and two wild pitches added one run to the Pride’s advantage. With two runners in scoring position, graduate student infielder Michael Florides slapped a base hit to the left side, scoring two. Another wild pitch helped Florides get to second before he made it a 7-1 Hofstra lead, scoring on a base hit from sophomore utility Dylan Palmer.
Marist responded in the bottom half of the fifth to Hofstra’s big inning by getting one run back. Sophomore first baseman/outfielder Ethan Conrad launched the ball to right center for his fifth home run of the year, making it 7-2. Conrad currently leads the Red Foxes in nearly every offensive category: batting average, hits, runs, triples, home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging percentage.
A one, two, three top of the sixth helped Marist keep some momentum as they kept closing the gap. Casamento scored his second sacrifice fly of the game, and Conrad picked up another RBI with a base hit, making it 7-4.
Florides picked up his third RBI of the day with another base hit, restoring a four-run lead for the Pride.
Marist freshman outfielder Lewis Rodriguez pulled the Red Foxes within two in the eighth with a two-out, two-run base hit. However, the rally stopped there for the inning when sophomore catcher Kyle Pollack grounded out with the bases loaded.
Going into the bottom of the ninth, Marist kept the game within reach but ultimately couldn’t mount another comeback victory. Hofstra sophomore pitcher Joseph Curreri kept cool with the tying run at the plate twice, inducing a swinging strikeout and groundball to earn the save.
It’s a similar story for the Red Foxes, whose early-game pitching woes create too steep of a hill for the offense to climb back up.
Marist starts a three-game series against MAAC opponent Manhattan from Poughkeepsie; game one is set for Friday at 3 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo from Raegan Van Zandt
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