Marist baseball again headed south this weekend, this time to face William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA where they were swept once again to extend their season-opening losing streak to seven games.
The Red Fox pitching staff improved greatly in the walk department and delivered two solid starts overall, but gave up double-digit hits twice while their bullpen faltered. Meanwhile, their offense struck out 33 times and failed to mount consistent pressure against a Tribe pitching staff that allowed double-digit runs in three of their four previous games to open the season.
William & Mary entered the game 1-3 after dropping two out of three to Rhode Island last weekend, including a mind-boggling 36-22 seven-inning loss, and a midweek matchup with Richmond on Tuesday.
Game one saw Marist jump out to a quick first-inning lead. Freshman third baseman Noel Rivera and graduate student shortstop Zach Donahue both contributed one-out singles and were advanced into scoring position by junior first baseman Aydan McNelly; Rivera then came around to score on a wild pitch by senior William & Mary starter Reed Interdonato.
The Tribe answered right back against Marist’s starter, redshirt sophomore Tyler Hartley. Hartley’s first inning was similar to the beginning of his start against LIU last weekend, though he limited the damage better this time around. Hartley walked the leadoff hitter, freshman infielder Jamie Laskofski, then hit the second batter before ultimately allowing a sacrifice fly that scored Laskofski, tying the game at one after the first frame. The run was unearned as Laskofski stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by junior catcher Kyle Pollack.
The Red Fox offense did not make any more noise until Interdonato exited the game after four terrific innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts, at which point a combination of timely hitting and defensive miscues by the Tribe led to a three-run fifth inning for Marist. Rivera, McNelly and redshirt freshman outfielder Chris Diaz all delivered run-scoring singles in the frame, granting the Red Foxes a 4-1 lead.
On the other side, Hartley cruised for Marist until the sixth inning when he loaded the bases by allowing a single and two walks before being lifted for junior right-hander Caleb Kempler, who allowed all three runners inherited from Hartley to score. Hartley’s final line included 5.1 innings pitched while allowing two hits, three earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts; over the first five innings he allowed no earned runs, one hit and one walk. Now two starts into his season, Hartley has given up just three hits over 9.2 innings.
The Red Fox offense was stymied over the final 4.2 innings by senior right-hander Carter Lovasz, who struck out seven and allowed no runs. Marist struck out 14 times total in the ball game.
Kempler was solid in relief for Marist after beginning shakily upon replacing Hartley but ultimately cracked in the bottom of the ninth inning by giving up a walk-off double to senior outfielder Lucas Carmichael, handing the Red Foxes a tough 5-4 loss.
Not even an hour later, they were back on the field at Plumeri Park for game two. Just as they did earlier in the day, Marist jumped ahead quickly, this time thanks to a leadoff solo homer by sophomore center fielder Lewis Rodriguez, his first of the season. Then, after Donahue and graduate student outfielder Jason Claiborn each reached by way of a single and a walk respectively, junior second baseman AJ Brotz dropped down a bunt single to load the bases and set up a bases-loaded walk by Diaz for a 2-0 Red Fox lead.
In the second, it was two more runs for Marist, this time unearned thanks to a throwing error by William & Mary graduate student third baseman Derek Holmes. Donahue delivered his second of three hits in the game in the inning, an RBI double that scored Rivera.
The rest of the game was all William & Mary.
After Marist removed their starter, redshirt sophomore left-hander Will Taylor, the Tribe went to work against the Red Fox bullpen. They scored three runs against senior right-hander Chris Ubner, who only recorded one out. William & Mary also put up three runs against redshirt sophomore right-hander Bobby LeFevre and two more against junior right-hander Jake Burt, resulting in a 9-4 Tribe lead by the end of the eighth inning.
Meanwhile, after striking out 14 times in the first game of the doubleheader, the Red Foxes struck out 11 times in the second. Over the final 6.1 innings, Marist had just three hits, ultimately losing the game 9-6 after scoring two more unearned runs in the ninth inning.
The series was capped on Sunday with the Red Foxes’ biggest struggle of the weekend in a game that eventually ended after seven innings in an 11-run Tribe victory. Graduate student Marist starter Riley Orr conceded a run in the first inning by throwing the ball away on a pickoff attempt, which he also did in his start against Wake Forest last weekend.
The game fell apart for Orr and Marist in the second inning, beginning with an error by McNelly to open the frame. Six of the next seven batters proceeded to pick up hits against Orr, including a triple and two doubles, giving William & Mary an easy seven-run second-inning lead and chasing Orr from the game.
The Red Foxes were sloppy all around throughout the game, making a total of five errors as the game cascaded away from them to a 15-4 series finale victory for William & Mary. The pitching staff walked only two, a stark contrast to the control issues they often present but gave up 15 hits to eliminate any of the benefits of limiting free passes. Their offense offered little resistance, garnering only four hits.
Donahue and Brotz both registered four hits on the weekend to lead the team while Claiborn led the team in times on base, reaching seven times. After a strong weekend last week in which he collected seven hits, McNelly went just 1-12 this time around while Rodriguez went 2-13. Diaz went 2-10 and struck out five times, raising his strikeout total to 13 over 24 at-bats in the young season.
Overall, throughout the early season, the Red Fox offense has been lackluster. Through seven games they have just 10 extra-base hits and a team slugging percentage of .289, which puts them number 264 out of 298 teams in Division I. The overall offensive struggles, combined with a pitching staff that has surrendered 40 walks, a .335 opponent batting average and an 11.07 ERA, have fueled the team’s 0-7 start.
Marist will try to right the ship next weekend when they travel to Greensboro, NC for a three-game set against North Carolina A&T State University. The first game is on Friday at 4 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Raegan Van Zandt; Photo from Marist Athletics
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