On Friday, Marist club baseball took on Siena at Heritage Financial Park, home of the Hudson Valley Renegades, the New York Yankees’ High A affiliate. With Marist students, families and the Boys and Girls Club of Poughkeepsie in attendance, Marist prevailed on a walk-off homer in a thrilling 5-4 win.
Marist entered the game with a 5-0 record in their conference, looking to continue their undefeated streak against rival Siena. Earlier this month, Marist took on Siena in a double-header, taking both games. On Friday night, the club started sophomore ace Max Rosen, who entered the game with a 0.69 ERA in 18 innings pitched, in hopes of remaining undefeated in their division.
The game got off to a rough start offensively as Marist got no-hit for the first five innings while only putting four baserunners on.
In the top of the fourth, Rosen got into trouble by allowing two singles. With runners on first and third, a base hit from Siena made the game 1-0. Right fielder Mike Schiavone fielded the ball and then threw it to third baseman Aidan Lavin, who tagged a runner out at third to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Siena got things started with a leadoff double, putting Marist in more trouble. A ground-out advanced the runner to third with one out, and Rosen then allowed a walk, putting runners on first and third. Marist called for a mound visit to allow Rosen to settle back in; following the visit, he allowed an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to give Siena a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, senior center fielder Jared Rijfkogel got aboard via an error and advanced to third base via a groundout and a wild pitch. Freshman designated hitter Shinn Saimaru drew a two-out walk but got picked off at first base to end the inning; Rijfkogel scored on the play, making the score 3-1.
Sophomore Noah Kasper replaced Rosen in the top of the sixth and escaped the inning without allowing a run. With Marist still hitless in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior outfielder Max Racicot came up to the plate. Hitting nearly .600 this season, Racicot broke up the no-hitter with a single into left field. Marist wound up loading the bases loaded with two outs; Rijfkogel rose to the occasion and singled to bring home two to tie the game up 3-3.
Marist had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lavin got things started after getting hit by a pitch, but was caught stealing. Siena ultimately escaped the inning, extending the game to extra innings.
With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, Siena took the lead with a softly hit RBI single off Kasper. Following the single, Schiavone caught the third out, getting Kasper out of the jam. Still, Marist would need to rally to win the game.
“They were getting me with little dinkers,” said Kasper. “[I had to] just power through and the mentality is I’m just better than them, so just get it in there and I’ll eventually get out of it.”
Senior second baseman Zach LaGrasta ripped a leadoff double for Marist, setting them up with the game winning run at the plate With one out, catcher Christian Carrieri stepped up to the plate looking to do damage. Carrieri entered play with a batting average over .600.
Sure enough, he delivered, smacking with a stunning walk-off home run to left field. The dugout emptied and surrounded Carrieri after he earned the team’s biggest hit of the season. With a home crowd in the stands, the win felt huge for not only the team, but also the community.
“There was nothing like it, one of a kind experience. Everyone involved setting it up was great and I’m happy that we could pull through in extras” said Carreri.
With the win, Marist improved their conference record to 6-0 this season with three games remaining in the fall portion of their season.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Photos provided by Aidan Lavin
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.