Marist softball owned the MAAC conference regular season in just about every way possible.
That did not continue as the preseason favorite, Marist lost 5-1 to the preseason runner-up, Canisius, in the second round of the MAAC Championship for their first loss of the tournament.
Leading up to the MAAC Championships, the Red Foxes became the first school since 2008 to sweep the MAAC major awards.
Head coach Joe Ausanio won his fourth Coach of the Year award, senior infielder Miah McDonald was awarded Player of the Year, graduate student pitcher Kiley Myers won Co-Pitcher of the Year, redshirt sophomore infielder Haley Ahr snagged Defensive Player of the Year and freshman outfielder/pitcher Anna Sidlowski earned Rookie of the Year.
Marist also had six First Team All-MAAC selections, including McDonald, Myers, Ahr, senior utility Alyssa Grupp and sophomore outfielder Peyton Pusey as well as two All-Rookie Team selections in Sidlowski and freshman infielder Samantha Rogers.
The recognition was well deserved after tallying 36 regular season wins––third most in program history––but, it was time to turn the page to postseason play.
In the regular season, Marist took two of three games against the Golden Griffins with two 7-3 victories and a 6-4 loss. Canisius senior pitcher/infielder Megan Giese provided a 124-pitch complete game and senior outfielder Christie McGee-Ross homered, powering their squad past Iona 4-2 in the first round.
Myers got the best of McGee-Ross to start the second-round matchup, striking her out in the first inning. The Golden Griffins opened the scoring, however, following two errors by Rogers at shortstop, giving the Golden Griffins a 1-0 lead.
The irony of softball was in full effect early as Rogers was immediately given the chance to redeem herself. Following base hits from McDonald and Ahr and a Grupp walk, the bases were loaded with two outs. In a 1-2 count, Giese spun an offspeed pitch off the table to strike out Rogers, ending the Red Foxes scoring threat.
Sophomore catcher Isabella Manory led off the bottom of the second inning and immediately tied the game up, sending the second pitch of her at-bat the opposite way and over the fence for her first home run of the season.
Two batters later, Pusey hit a double that bounced off the top of the center field fence and back into play which was followed by a McDonald walk. Giese retired Ahr with a force out at third but, through two innings, it was evident that both sides knew the importance of this game.
The winner of the last year’s championship would be two games away from the championship while the loser must win four in a row to be crowned champions.
After retiring the first two batters of the third, another high-leverage spot arose. Base hits from senior catcher Gianna Fazzolari and junior infielder Rosie Gomez put runners on the corners with two outs for junior infielder Emily Ilano.
The junior poked a single past McDonald, bringing Fazzolari in to score and giving Canisius the lead back at 2-1 through two and half innings.
Pleasants and Grupp reached to begin the Red Foxes bottom of the third; a wild pitch put them in scoring position with no outs.
Giese struck Rogers out for a second time with the same offspeed pitch but Manory bunted safely, loading the bases with one out and junior infielder Ronni Howard entering the box. Howard saw three straight balls but Giese recovered, inducing a pop-out for the second out leaving former Golden Griffin, graduate student outfielder Sophia Recrosio as the last resort.
Recrosio quickly fell behind in the count and proceeded to ground out to Giese, leaving the Red Foxes with another scoreless inning despite multiple opportunities to get back on the board.
Leading off the fourth after making the final out of the third, Giese gave herself run support with a solo blast to straightaway center, adding to Canisius’ 3-1 lead. Myers bounced back though, striking out two of the next three batters to end the top of the fourth.
McGee-Ross reached to begin the top of the fifth on Rogers’ third error of the game and came around to score following a tough play in the hole that was ultimately ruled Rogers’ fourth error of the game.
Two unsuccessful fielders choice attempts by the Golden Griffins gave Recrosio another chance in the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded and two outs. Giese induced another groundout by her former teammate, keeping Marist off the scoreboard despite pressure once again.
Giese, as she did all day, stymied the final threat in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, McDonald singled and Ahr reached via error but, the First Team All-MAAC pitcher recorded two flyouts. The Red Foxes left 13 runners on base to Canisius’ five.
Marist now has a long road ahead to repeat as champions, starting with facing the winner of Iona and Niagara tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Canisius, meanwhile, is a game away from entering the championship with a win tomorrow against Siena.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo via Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts
