Marist baseball lost to Army 6-1 in a windy 2024 Hudson River rivalry.
The Black Knights (23-17, 12-6 Patriot League conference) used intelligent baserunning and shut-down defense to defeat the Red Foxes (14-25, 7-8 MAAC conference), ending Marist’s third win streak of the season.
Although these two teams seldom play each other, there is some familiarity between the clubs. Army head coach Chris Tracz was the head coach of Marist for 13 seasons, leaving in 2022 as the program’s winningest coach, highlighted by the 2017 MAAC championship. In 2022, Lance Ratchford replaced Tracz as Marist’s head coach after serving as an assistant under Tracz from 2016-2018.
Junior pitcher Chris Ubner started for the Red Foxes, going 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and three hits with two strikeouts. For Army, senior pitcher Steven Graver was on the bump, pitching 3 2/3 innings with only one strikeout, two hits and no runs given up.
Coming into the game, Marist sophomore infielder Ethan Conrad was named MAAC Player of the Week after batting .647 with two home runs and a .714 OBP. This was Conrad’s second time achieving this award this season; he previously earned the accolade on March 26.
In the bottom of the first, Army opened the scoring. Senior catcher/utility Derek Berg was hit by a pitch, and sophomore outfielder/pitcher William Parker singled. Then, as senior infielder Sam Ruta struck out, the Black Knights worked a double steal and scored one run to take the early 1-0 lead.
Army added another run in the second. Sophomore outfielder Addison Ainsworth singled, and sophomore infielder Carter Hewitt had a bloop single to move runners to the corners. Sophomore infielder Thomas Schreck hit a ground ball, but a run scored after a failed double play.
Marist swapped freshman pitcher Andrew Fierro for Ubner, who struggled early in his appearance. Fierro walked Ainsworth and hit Hewitt with a pitch, and Schreck singled to center field, driving in a run to make it 3-0.
Army made some noise in the fifth inning, scoring three runs. After a groundout, Parker doubled down the left field line, and Ruta would follow up with a double of his own to make it 4-0. This prompted a pitching change as senior Lance Koenig replaced Fierro. In one inning, he gave up three hits with four runs against. Koenig would start with a wild pitch, which advanced two runners; sophomore left fielder Ethan Ellis had a bloop single to center field to score the runner, giving the Black Knights a six-run lead.
In the ninth and final inning, Marist finally got on the board after a slow offensive day where they grounded into six double plays. Conrad led off with a blazing triple, his 12th triple of the season. Freshman outfielder Lewis Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, and Kapusinciski grounded into a double play. However, Conrad scored to make the final score 6-1.
Marist will head to Buffalo on Friday to face Canisius in a crucial three-game series, as both teams sit in the final two MAAC playoff spots. Army will host rival Navy on Friday, starting a three-game set.
Edited by Sam Murphy
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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