College Station, TX — No. 3 Marist softball lost to No. 1 Texas A&M 17-4 in five innings. The program’s historic season began in Stephenville, Texas, and ends three hours southeast in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (46-10, 2-1 Regional) started quickly, putting up a four-spot against graduate student pitcher Kiley Myers in the first inning. Before racking up 17 runs and 17 hits, the Red Foxes (48-9-1, 1-2 Regional) stood in against Texas A&M for the first three innings before a 10-run fourth closed the curtains on Marist’s historic season.
“It was our goal coming into the regional to at least get one win, and we accomplished that,” said Myers. “I feel like the season was a season of setting goals and accomplishing them.”
Myers started for the Red Foxes immediately after a 90-pitch shutout for the school’s first NCAA tournament win.
Senior catcher Mac Barbara and senior first baseman Amari Harper each recorded RBI doubles to take a quick 2-0 lead. The next batter, freshman second baseman KK Dement, hit a rocket over the scoreboard for a two-run home run.
“It takes all nine, or even all 27. As you saw in this game, we rely on each other,” said Barbara.
Junior center fielder Peyton Pusey led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single, her sixth hit of the tournament. Redshirt junior second baseman Haley Ahr followed suit with a single of her own, giving Marist an instant scoring chance of their own.
In her seventh start of the season, senior pitcher Emily Leavitt bounced a pitch that got away from Barbara. As Pusey moved to third, the ball continued rolling behind home plate, and she took her chance to score, sprinting home and sliding in safely.
Leavitt left Ahr stranded at third with two strikeouts to end the inning, and Marist trailed 4-1 after one inning. Both teams traded runs in the second. Sophomore designated player Mya Perez hit an RBI single to shallow center. Still, senior pitcher Isabella Milazzo kept the Aggies at bay, recording two outs with the bases loaded in relief of Myers. Milazzo entered the game with 11 innings pitched on the season.
Pusey continued her excellent regional with a triple that ricocheted off Harper’s glove at first and trickled into foul territory. The triple allowed third baseman Ronni Howard to score after walking, and Marist again cut into the lead, now at 5-2.
Perez and Barbara led off the fourth inning with back-to-back solo homers, bringing the Texas A&M lead to 7-2. The game opened from there with the Aggies recording three more hits and commanding a 9-2 lead. Harper hit a grand slam to highlight a 10-run, six-hit and three-home-run fourth inning.
“I thought we made good pitches that they hit and you tip your cap,” said Marist head coach Joe Ausanio. “They get paid to hit the ball. There’s going to be times when you make a good pitch that they hit. It’s just one of those things that you learn from and you move on.
The Red Foxes tacked on two more runs courtesy of senior first baseman Maddie Gore’s RBI double down the left field line. Texas A&M added their last two runs and finished off the 17-7 victory, but not before every available Red Fox got in the game.
“The thing that I was most proud about today, not only winning our first game at a regional, but getting everybody in. I made sure everybody played today,” said Ausanio.
As Marist’s season ends, the careers of graduate student shortstop Miah McDonald and Myers also end. Myers fittingly now owns the sole NCAA Tournament win in program history and the most single-season pitching wins in program history. McDonald finished the tournament with four home runs; she owns the program and conference record with 28 homers on the season.
“I wouldn’t want to go out any other way, especially with this team this year. We really were family this year,” said McDonald.
The graduate students and leaders of this team led them to a program-best 48 wins while breaking nearly every team and individual record possible.
Edited by Marley Pope
Graphic and photo by Quinn DiFiore
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