Sacred Heart pummeled Marist in a seven-inning run-rule victory to open the second round of play in the MAAC Baseball Championship at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y.
After dominating Mount St. Mary’s yesterday, Marist put together a much different performance against Sacred Heart. Their pitching – that led them through most of the season – faltered to the tune of 13 Pioneer hits and nine walks in just six innings.
Senior outfielder and All-MAAC Second Team honoree Alex Ungar popped two home runs for the Pioneers while senior infielder Tim McGuire went 5-for-5 with two RBIs in the win. For Marist, sophomore outfielder Lewis Rodriguez continued to swing a hot bat by launching a solo home run in the fifth.
The Red Foxes and Pioneers never met during the regular season, Sacred Heart’s first in the MAAC. They won the regular season championship in the NEC last year before falling a few outs shy of winning the NEC Tournament.
Senior right-hander Chris Ubner picked up the start for the Red Foxes after a terrific regular season in which he up a 3.82 ERA. However, he struggled from the jump in a particularly laborious first inning. He surrendered two hits and two walks, the second of which forced in a run to put Marist in a 1-0 hole after the first inning for the second straight game.
Things got worse for Ubner in the second. A leadoff double and a bunt single set up Ungar, Sacred Heart’s leadoff man, with men on the corners and nobody out. The senior outfielder then lofted a three-run homer over the left field fence to quadruple the Pioneers’ lead to 4-0.
Ubner managed to get one out in the second but also gave up another double and a walk before being yanked in favor of junior right-hander Jake Burt, who fared even worse.
Burt faced three batters and threw one strike. He walked all three, the latter two of which forced in runs to create a 6-0 second inning hole. Senior left-hander John Hacker replaced him and managed to get out of the inning, but not before walking in two more runs to make the score 8-0.
By the time the bottom of the second came to a close, Ubner, Burt and Hacker combined to give up seven runs on four hits and six walks – four of which came with the bases loaded.
Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Joey Trombley cruised through the first three innings without allowing a run for Sacred Heart. He began to crack in the fourth inning as junior infielder AJ Brotz scored on a wild pitch and junior outfielder Dylan Millman picked up an RBI single to right for Marist’s first two runs.
With two outs and runners on first and second, senior outfielder Nate Lincoln punched a base hit into right field. Head coach Lance Ratchford then made a questionable decision to wave Millman home, where Ungar threw him out by a huge margin with the top of the order on deck.
Ungar’s huge day continued in the bottom half of the inning when he parked his second homer, this time against redshirt sophomore right-hander Bobby LeFevre, just over the short porch fence in right field. The two-run shot put the Pioneers back out in front by double digits heading into the fifth.
Despite the deficit, Rodriguez continued to provide a spark for the Marist offense. After finishing yesterday’s game a home run shy of the cycle, he continued his huge playoffs with a solo homer to left in the fifth that made the score 12-3.
On the other side, LeFevre managed to keep Sacred Heart off the board for the first time in the fifth, but their bats got right back to work in the sixth. McGuire smacked a two-run double on a hanging breaking ball for his fifth hit of the day, putting the Pioneers back in run-rule territory heading to the seventh.
With an 11-run lead, senior right-hander Charlie Costello worked a one-two-three seventh inning to wrap up a 14-3 win for Sacred Heart, advancing them to the next round of play tomorrow.
With the loss, Marist now find themselves back in a must-win situation. They play for their season against the loser of Siena vs. Quinnipiac tonight at 6 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Quinn DiFiore
Photo by Cassidy Connors
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