The double header between Marist softball and the reigning MAAC champion Siena Saints proved thrilling despite the gloomy weather on Friday afternoon in Loudonville, New York. So thrilling that the second game did not finish after playing into the darkness, forcing suspension.
Siena ended Marist’s historic win streak in a 3-2 extra innings game one victory. A second extra-innings game followed for game two, stopping at 3-3 heading into the ninth. Saturday’s constant rain made the field unplayable for Sunday resulting in a game three cancellation. Game two will be determined at a later point.
Entering the series, Marist (30-6, 7-1 MAAC) averaged 7.7 runs scored while Siena (23-14, 7-3 MAAC) averaged 4.6 runs. The Red Foxes also entered with a +197 run differential to Siena’s +43. Both games certainly played more towards a Siena-style game with a tight and low-scoring affair.
Two MAAC championship MVPs clashed in the circle to begin the series during a clean, high-level battle. Redshirt junior Alissa Eimont and graduate student pitcher Kiley Myers allowed first-inning runs but settled afterwards. Myers suffered her first loss of the season, giving up nine hits and two earned runs over 7 ⅓ innings. Eimont finished with eight innings pitched, allowing six hits, six walks and two earned runs.
Marist made due on the first three Red Foxes reaching safely to load the bases with no outs. Junior center fielder Peyton Pusey came around to score after starting the game with a bunt single. Sophomore left fielder Samantha Rogers added the second run with an opposite-field single, scoring graduate student shortstop Miah McDonald.
Siena responded to Marist’s early offense against Myers, cutting the lead to 2-1 through one inning. The first two Saints reached on ground balls that trickled between third and short. Junior first baseman Emma Peterson put Siena on the board with an RBI double down the right field line.
The Saints added another run in the third inning, knotting the game at two. Senior right fielder McKenzie Swinson led off the inning with a triple, popping up on the bag and yelling into her dugout to fire up her team. She scored two batters later as sophomore third baseman Gracie Goewey drove her in on a game-tying sacrifice fly.
Marist threatened back in the next half-inning. Eimont found herself against redshirt junior Haley Ahr in a two out, bases-loaded situation in the top of the fourth. Goewy snared Ahr’s grounder to third to get out of a dangerous situation and keep the score tied at 2-2.
Although drastically different pitch counts, the pitching and defense were crucial through five innings. Myers finished five innings with 63 pitches while Eimont entered the sixth with over 100 after Swinson made a leaping grab to save a run in the fifth.
McDonald led off the seventh with a single and let out a scream when she got to first, urging her team to make something happen. Ahr singled to put McDonald into scoring position, but like she did nearly all game, Eimont kept the Red Foxes off the scoreboard, retiring the next three batters.
Myers finished the seventh unscathed, sending the game into extra innings for the second time all season for both sides. Marist went down in order in the eighth inning while Goewy doubled to start the bottom of the inning.
A ground ball to the right side allowed Goewy to advance to third, bringing freshman designated player Gianna DiMeglio to the plate with one out. DiMeglio grounded to freshman second baseman Sienna Kunze, who could not come up with it cleanly, allowing the winning run to cross home plate in a 3-2 Siena walk-off win.
Two seniors and statistical leaders took the circle for game two. Siena’s ERA (2.88) leader Kaycie Kennedy started opposite Marist’s strikeout leader (103) Maddie Pleasants. Both pitchers kept the basepaths clear through two innings until the Red Foxes loaded the bases in the third.
Rogers walked for a run with one out, but Kennedy kept the damage to just that, striking out junior catcher Isabella Manory on a full count for her second strikeout of the game. Manory began her walk to first, thinking it was Kennedy’s seventh walk of the game, but got rung up instead.
Marist added two more runs in the fourth inning, courtesy of an Ahr two-RBI double. Siena responded with two runs of their own in the following inning, started by junior catcher Ella Milante. She delivered an RBI triple and scored after a single from freshman left fielder Lauren Melton, bringing Siena within one.
Goewy relieved Kennedy after the Ahr double in the fourth inning and kept Marist at bay. Pleasants entered the bottom of the seventh with 12 strikeouts and the same one-run lead, the score remaining at 3-2. Swinson bunted two Saints to second and third for sophomore center fielder Chloe Cummings with one out.
Cummings sent a single up the middle towards Pusey to score the tying run and Melton rounded third for the winning run, going for Siena’s second walk-off of the day. Instead, Pusey’s throw home beat Melton and Manory applied the tag to save the game, allowing for the second straight extra innings game. Goewy and Pleasants struck out the sides in the eighth inning before being suspended due to darkness; Pleasants racked up a career-high 15 strikeouts through eight innings.
Saturday’s rain did not allow for games two and three to be played on Sunday, forcing cancellation of both. Marist’s next games will be on Tuesday against Rider in Lawrenceville, New Jersey; first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Edited by Michael Burns
Photo by Kira Crutcher
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