WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. – On a cold and windy afternoon at Heritage Financial Park, Marist baseball kicked off MAAC Conference play on Friday with a win, defeating Merrimack 6-4.
The Red Fox offense got off to a hot start and was carried to the finish line by two quality efforts out of the bullpen by sophomore right-hander Ryan VanDeWater and junior right-hander Caleb Kempler; the two combined to allow just one hit over the last 4.1 innings.
The game marked several firsts, including the first of eight home games Marist will play at Heritage, the home of the Hudson Valley Renegades – the New York Yankees High-A affiliate. It also marked Merrimack baseball’s first conference matchup since moving from the NEC Conference to the MAAC Conference prior to this season.
Similarly to Marist, this season has gotten off to a difficult start for Merrimack; they entered Friday’s game 1-10-1 in non-conference play and fourth-to-last in team ERA in the MAAC.
Redshirt sophomore Will Taylor took the bump for the Red Foxes, coming off a seven-inning gem last week in which he allowed just two runs and struck out five. Entering the game, Taylor had a 2.87 ERA that earned him his first series-opening start this season.
Taylor got off to a flying start in the top of the first, striking out the Warriors in order to set up the Red Fox offense against Merrimack starter Andrew Heffernan, a sophomore right-hander. Herffernan had been solid in the early season, pitching to a 4.85 ERA through his first three starts, but was greeted rudely by the Marist bats who jumped him for a quick first inning run. Graduate student outfielder Jason Claiborn drilled a first pitch RBI double to the left-center gap to give the Red Foxes a 1-0 lead entering the second.
In the top of the second, the Warriors came right back as Taylor was hurt by his defense. Freshman third baseman Noel Rivera made two consecutive throwing errors to open the inning, setting up the Warriors for a three-run inning highlighted by RBI knocks from junior infielder Logan Castellano and junior infielder Samuel Sherman.
Suddenly trailing 3-1, the Red Fox bats were ignited by none other than the sizzling hot bat of junior infielder Brady Steinert, who led off the bottom of the second with a seeing-eye single up the middle. Junior catcher Kyle Pollack soon followed with a booming RBI double that short-hopped the left-center field fence, and after a walk by redshirt freshman outfielder Chris Diaz, the top of the order was set up with men on the corners and one out trailing by one.
Junior infielder AJ Brotz proceeded to dunk a bloop RBI double in front of the right fielder to tie the game before sophomore outfielder Lewis Rodriguez lined a two-run knock to left, granting Marist a 5-3 lead that stood heading to the third inning.
Merrimack got one back in the top of the third on a solo homer to left off the bat of freshman infielder Jayden Hamilton, but the Red Foxes maintained a one-run advantage heading to the bottom half.
Hamilton’s homer proved to be the only earned run allowed by Taylor. After a clean fourth inning and striking out the first two hitters in the fifth, he was replaced by VanDeWater, who got a flyout on the first pitch he threw to end the inning. Taylor’s final line was 4.2 innings pitched, four runs, one earned run, no walks and six strikeouts
In the bottom half of the fifth, Marist tacked on a run after two consecutive two-out hits by graduate student infielder Zach Donahue and senior infielder/outfielder Nate Lincoln, setting up a 6-4 Red Fox lead heading into the sixth.
Meanwhile, VanDeWater pitched terrificly out of the pen for the Red Foxes. After recording the final out of the fifth, he allowed no runs over the sixth and seventh innings, highlighted by a team effort with Pollack for a strike him out-throw him out double play to end the top of the seventh.
VanDeWater also recorded the first two outs in the eighth and nearly had an inning-ending ground ball double play, but Donahue’s throw to first pulled Claiborn off the first-base bag to continue the inning. At that point, Kempler, Marist’s bullpen stalwart, entered and got redshirt freshman Jack Andrews to pop-up to Brotz and preserve the Red Foxes’ 6-4 lead.
In the ninth, Kempler recorded the first out via a pop-up, but proceeded to walk the next batter and hit the next one on the hand; Kempler argued briefly that the pitch had actually hit the knob of the bat, but to no avail.
Despite the slight stumbles, Kempler picked up a strikeout and a pop-up immediately after the hit by pitch, locking down a 6-4 Marist win to open conference play.
After Taylor allowed just one earned run, VanDeWater and Kempler were integral to locking down the win for the Red Foxes. They combined to allow just one hit over 4.1 innings of scoreless relief.
“They’re gonna be the dudes that we rely on,” Marist head coach Lance Ratchford said of VanDeWater and Kempler. “Kempler’s been huge his last couple outings, but to add in VanDeWater, I mean he was pretty electric.”
Kempler has become Marist’s de facto closer. He is the go-to guy in the biggest spots, as evidenced by his outing Friday and that he pitched two-plus innings on two consecutive days against NC A&T State last weekend.
Marist will be back at Heritage Financial Park tomorrow to continue their series with Merrimack. Redshirt sophomore right-hander Tyler Hartley will take the bump at noon for the Red Foxes.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Kira Crutcher
Photo from John Jankowski
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