The MAAC softball tournament will officially be held in Poughkeepsie, New York for the second straight season following Marist softball’s 2-1 and 8-1 wins on Thursday against Iona.
Marist (43-7-1, 20-2-1 MAAC) needed two solo home runs and a gem by graduate student pitcher Kiley Myers to beat two-seeded Iona (28-17, 18-6 MAAC) 2-1 in game one, clinching the one-seed in the MAAC. The Red Foxes put up two four-run innings in the 8-1 game two win. Graduate student shortstop Miah McDonald homered in each game, breaking the MAAC single-season home run record while Myers recorded her 20th win.
“It was a great opportunity, especially for it being our last home game on this field. We definitely wanted the win, and we just treated this game like it was in the tournament,” said Myers.
“I’m really excited to showcase this field, I think it’s beautiful right now,” said Marist head coach Joe Ausanio. “This team is very driven right now. They know the task at hand and they know what they have to do to accomplish that task.”
The Red Foxes entered the double-header on an 11-game winning streak, averaging 12.8 runs over the previous five games. Since their MAAC opener on March 22, the Gaels rattled off a 22-3 record before recently stumbling with two losses against Fairfield two days before this matchup to decide the top seed.
Marist and Iona possess the lowest ERAs in the MAAC, which became immediately apparent in game one. Myers and sophomore pitcher Allison Hoppe posted zeroes through two innings, each allowing just a walk.
“I love that we have such a strong leader on our team. [Myers] has so much experience and she’s a gamer,” said junior center fielder Peyton Pusey. “She gives it everything she has every single pitch. And we know that from her, but also having everyone else behind like they’re gonna come through when she does and when
Through the early pitcher’s duel, both teams were noticeably vocal from the jump, showing an awareness of the stakes with plenty of chatter from the dugouts. Despite the increased energy, both offenses struggled to get anything going with just one baserunner each.
On the first pitch of the third inning, Iona junior left fielder Alivia Litchner singled for the game’s first hit. Litchner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, turning the lineup over for Gaels leadoff hitter and shortstop Brianna Fischer.
After striking out to start the game, Fischer lined a single up the middle to score Litchner, giving Iona a 1-0 lead. On the other side, Hoppe induced weak flyouts through three innings before graduate student shortstop Miah McDonald got a hold of one in the fourth to tie the game at 1-1.
McDonald sent an opposite field shot way over the right centerfield fence, rounded first and turned towards her dugout to fire her teammates up. McDonald’s 22nd homer of the season broke the single-season MAAC home run record and marked the beginning of a trend of much better swings by the Red Foxes.
“[The record] is in the back of my head, but I’m not trying to put so much pressure on it, because if I do, I’m gonna hit a pop-up, or I’m not gonna perform the way I want to,” said McDonald. “I was struggling with that outside pitch the last couple of games. So, figuring out what I was doing that first at-bat and then trying to attack the pitcher is all I was doing.”
“Clutch is the only way I can describe [McDonald],” said Ausanio.
Following McDonald’s homer, redshirt junior first baseman Haley Ahr singled and came within feet of scoring as the next two batters flew out to the warning track. The score remained 1-1 through four innings, but Marist’s at-bats looked improved before junior center fielder Peyton Pusey led off the sixth by blasting a ball over the right field fence to give Marist a 2-1 lead, her sixth home run in the last five games.
“I’m just keeping it simple. I’m not really making it a bigger moment than it needs to be. I’m just trying to play good softball,” said Pusey.
“It was funny to watch how Iona’s defense set up for [Pusey]. The infield was up and the outfield was all the way back to the fence, she’s almost undefendable,” said Myers.
The one-run lead ended up being all Myers needed as she sat down Iona in order to close the seventh inning. She received some help from senior right fielder Kaitlyn Husic who entered in the sixth inning and saved an extra-base hit with a great running grab into the fence for the second out of the seventh.
Myers forced a ground out to finish the one-seed clinching game, her 20th win of the season, ninth shutout and 15th complete game. Myers struck out six Gaels over seven innings to end her regular season with an incredible 20-1 record and a 1.53 ERA.
“Just pitching my best every game for my team and knowing they have my back,” said Myers. “I was just pitching to contact, relying on my defense to work and they’ve been great all season. I have their back and they have mine.”
Sophomore pitcher Anna Sidlowski started game two, allowing senior pitcher Maddie Pleasants to start in the circle for Friday’s senior game. Similar to game one, Sidlowski and freshman pitcher Nadia Andarowski kept traffic off the bases through two innings and Iona struck first in the third.
Sidlowski got two quick outs in the top of the third but allowed two walks and a single to load the bases. Iona took a 1-0 lead after Sidlowski’s pitch found the backstop and Fischer sprinted home to score, but she managed to avoid further trouble as freshman second baseman Sienna Kunze made an acrobatic catch in shallow right field to end the inning.
Husic and Pusey reached safely to begin the fourth in response to Iona taking the lead. After smacking a game-tying homer in the fourth inning of game one, McDonald one-upped her game one homer with a three-run shot to shoot Marist ahead 3-1.
“I love having [McDonald hit] behind me, because I know that if I get on, she’s gonna get me in,” said Pusey.
McDonald’s second home run of the day and 23rd of the season went way over the scoreboard in right field before the Red Foxes threatened for more. Kunze doubled into the left field corner, putting runners on second and third with one out. Following Kunze’s double, Hoppe reentered in relief of Andarowski after her game one start; she got the Gaels out of the inning, allowing just a run to keep the Gaels’ deficit at 4-1 entering the fourth.
That deficit only held until in the fifth inning when Pusey scored on an RBI single by Ahr and the game broke open on a three-run blast down the left field line by Pleasants; her 20th home run of the season expanded Marist’s lead to 8-1. Freshman pitcher Emma Bayor relieved for Sidlowski in the sixth; Sidlowski worked through challenging stretches and limited the Gaels to one run over five innings.
Baylor and the Red Foxes finished the 8-1 victory, extending their winning streak to 13 games. Marist will celebrate Senior Day in Poughkeepsie on Friday, May 1 at noon, concluding their regular season with one final game against Iona.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic via Quinn DiFiore, Photo via Cassidy Connors
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