POMONA, N.Y. – In a win-or-go-home round one game in the MAAC Baseball Championship, Marist dominated Mount St. Mary’s 12-2 to keep their season alive at Clover Stadium.
In a matchup of southpaw aces, Marist sophomore Will Taylor outdueled Mount freshman and All-MAAC Rookie and Second Team honoree Sarigne Sarre, and sophomore outfielder Lewis Rodriguez served as a catalyst atop the Red Fox lineup.
When the two teams met in mid-April, Marist took two out of three. Taylor and Sarre each pitched in the second game of the series, a 7-4 Marist win. Taylor went five innings and allowed three runs, while Sarre gave up nine hits – the most he allowed in any outing all season – and six runs over 5.1 innings of relief.
Marist entered off a series win against Siena, scoring more than 10 runs twice, a welcome reprieve for the Red Fox pitching staff that does much of the team’s heavy lifting – they rank ninth in the conference in runs scored but second in ERA.
The Mountaineers came in having played only one game in the past nine days after their final non-conference game was canceled last Tuesday and two of their final three games against Manhattan were canceled due to poor field conditions. They won their only game against the Jaspers 7-6 behind nine stolen bases; the Mountaineers led the MAAC with 179 steals in the regular season.
They put their aggressive baserunning on display from the start. Junior infielder Alex Mendes singled with one out in the first and promptly swiped second for his 27th steal of the season. Then, freshman infielder Nolan Book lined a two-out RBI single to center to score Mendes and put the Mount ahead 1-0.
Despite not scoring in the first, the Red Foxes made Sarre work from the jump. Rodriguez laced a single after working an 11-pitch at bat to lead off the game, a sign of things to come for the Marist offense. In the second, junior infielder AJ Brotz drew a leadoff walk before graduate student shortstop Zach Donahue worked the count from 0-2 to 3-2 and reached on an error by sophomore Mount third baseman Ty Fredo.
“Right off the bat with Lewis, 11-pitch at bat, he comes through with the big hit – that was a blow mentally and physically [to Sarre],” said Marist head coach Lance Ratchford.
Sarre recovered to strike out the next two batters, but redshirt freshman catcher Scott Esposito tagged him for a two-out, two-run single to catapult Marist ahead in the second.
The Red Fox offense struck again in the third. Rodriguez drilled a leadoff triple off the short-porch fence in right field before freshman infielder Noel Rivera dunked a bloop RBI single to center to make the score 3-1.
Meanwhile, after back-to-back scoreless innings in the second and third, Taylor cracked in the third as Fredo launched a long home run to the back of the bleachers in left field to cut the Mount’s deficit in half.
After battling through the first four innings, Sarre went back to the mound for the top of the fifth and, after recording one out, issued a four-pitch walk to the number nine hitter, senior outfielder Nate Lincoln. Head coach Frank Leoni then turned to his bullpen with Rodriguez coming to the plate.
Sophomore right-hander Josh Halcisak entered and induced a fly out from Rodriguez but walked Rivera to set up graduate student infielder/outfielder Jason Claiborn with runners on first and second. Claiborn slashed a ball between the legs of Fredo that scored Lincoln to put Marist ahead 4-2 and close the book on Sarre’s day. The ball appeared to take an awkward hop as Fredo attempted to field it and therefore was ruled a single, ending Sarre’s day with a line of 4.1 innings pitched, four runs (two earned) and four strikeouts.
Taylor recorded the first two outs of the sixth with help from Rodriguez, who made a brilliant, gliding catch in the right-center field alleyway. With two outs, head coach Lance Ratchford turned to redshirt freshman right-hander and All-MAAC Rookie team honoree Ethan Marzo.
“Just make sure to start off throwing first pitch strikes,” Taylor said of his game plan coming into the game. “They’re an aggressive team so [wanted to] keep the pitch count low.”
Marzo has turned himself into the Red Foxes’ most trusted bullpen arm over the course of the season, pitching to a 1.65 ERA in conference play. Fredo, his first batter, popped up to Claiborn in foul territory to end the sixth.
In the seventh, Marist began to pull away. After Lincoln reached on a fielder’s choice and Rodriguez doubled for his third hit of the game, Rivera smacked a two-run single to left. Then, Claiborn added on with an RBI hit of his own to make the score 7-2 and chase Halcisak from the game.
The Red Foxes proceeded to score once more in the seventh and four more times across the eighth and ninth innings. Amidst the offensive barrage, Rodriguez picked up his fourth hit of the game.
“He’s got the skillset to be the best player in this league,” Ratchford said of Rodriguez. “It took him a little while to get going, but you can tell he’s seeing the ball really well right now, giving us great quality at-bats and utilizing his speed.”
Rodriguez struggled mightily early in the season but has gotten hot at the most important time. Over his last four games, he is 9-for-18.
“I changed my approach, I changed my stance and I’ve just been playing for the team,” Rodriguez said. “As baseball players, we go through ups and downs; it happens.”
While Marist thrashed the Mount bullpen, Marzo cruised through the seventh and eighth. In the ninth, he surrendered a run on an RBI knock by senior catcher Kyle Cincinatti, but got through the inning to secure a 3.1 inning save and a 12-3 Marist victory.
The Red Foxes now play Sacred Heart at 10 a.m. on Wednesday; if they win, Marist advances to play on Thursday. With a loss, they play another elimination game Wednesday night.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Nate Babcock
Photo by John Jankowski
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