In a nearly four-hour affair on Friday night into Saturday morning, Marist baseball earned a thrilling 9-7 victory over third-seeded Sacred Heart to keep its season alive in the MAAC Baseball Championship at Clover Stadium.
Huge home runs from graduate student infielder Zach Donahue and graduate student outfielder Jason Claiborn, teammates at Division III Eastern Connecticut State University for four years before transferring to Marist this season, powered the Red Foxes.
Claiborn spent the entire season as the most consistent bat in the Red Fox lineup. He ranks in the top 10 in the MAAC in on-base percentage and leads the team in RBIs, but did not provide much power; he hit just one regular-season home run. With the team down to their last four outs and trailing by a run, he doubled his home run tally to put the Red Foxes ahead.
The Red Foxes and Pioneers met on Wednesday in the first game of the double-elimination portion of the tournament. Sacred Heart won 14-3 in seven innings behind two home runs from senior outfielder and All-MAAC Second Team honoree Alex Ungar and a 5-for-5 game from senior infielder Tim McGuire.
Entering the game, neither team had played a close game in the tournament. Marist beat Mount St. Mary’s by nine in their first game before being run-ruled by Sacred Heart and then handling Siena by 10. Meanwhile, Fairfield run-ruled Sacred Heart 13-3 earlier in the day behind an eight-run third inning.
After using their first two starters in their previous two games, Sacred Heart’s third starter, junior right-hander Ryan Parker, got the start; the Red Foxes jumped all over him.
Sophomore outfielder Lewis Rodriguez led off with an infield single before Claiborn picked up a one-out infield single of his own. Then, with two out and two on, Donahue launched a three-run homer to right-center field to slingshot Marist ahead 3-0.
The Pioneers fought back in the bottom of the first to the tune of four baserunners, but an RBI single by sophomore utilityman Gavin Donohue against graduate student right-hander Riley Orr proved to be the only run they managed.
Orr started games early in the season for Marist but moved to the bullpen after his March 4 start against Hofstra. He showed flashes of success throughout his work in the pen, but still pitched to an ERA over 7.00 on the season.
With their lead cut to 3-1, the Red Foxes got the run back in the second via a two-out opposite-field RBI double by freshman infielder Noel Rivera, scoring Rodriguez all the way from first. Rodriguez appeared to forget there were two outs as he hesitated around the bases but still managed to score without a throw.
In the bottom half, Orr issued two walks to bring Ungar to plate as the tying run with two outs. With the count 2-2, Orr left a slider up in the zone that Ungar hit deep to left in a bid for his third home run of the tournament, but the ball died on the warning track and fell into senior outfielder Nate Lincoln’s glove.
The third inning proved less forgiving for Orr. A single and two more walks loaded the bases for the Pioneers with two outs. Marist associate head coach Mike Coss visited Orr on the mound and elected to leave him in the game despite redshirt sophomore right-hander Ryan VanDeWater being ready to go in the bullpen – a decision that proved costly.
With the count 3-1, junior catcher Joe Cilea lifted a fastball over Rodriguez’s head in center to clear the bases and tie the game 4-4. VanDeWater entered immediately after Cilea’s double and picked up a strikeout to end the inning.
Once again, the Red Fox offense fought back immediately, this time against Sacred Heart freshman right-hander Bryan Matuschat.
Redshirt freshman outfielder Chris Diaz led off the fourth inning with a single to center before Matuschat balked to advance him to second. Then, on the next pitch, Lincoln scorched a base hit to right field – Ungar uncorked a gorgeous throw to the plate, but Diaz executed an unbelievable, contorted slide to get his hand in ahead of Cilea’s tag and put Marist back in front.
Both offenses slowed over the next few innings while each defense traded highlight reel plays. Rivera helped VanDeWater through the fifth by turning an unassisted double play after a diving stop to his right. On the other side, the Donohue brothers – sophomores Gavin and Ronan – made back-to-back sparkling plays to keep Marist off the basepaths in the top of the sixth.
Matuschat exited with two outs in the seventh after 3.2 innings of one-run ball that halted the Red Fox offense. Sophomore switch-pitcher PJ Rogan replaced him and induced a fly-out to end the inning.
Marist went back to the bullpen for the seventh as well – this time for redshirt sophomore Ethan Marzo. The Red Foxes’ best reliever threw 3.1 innings to secure Marist’s win against Mount on Tuesday.
Marzo recorded the first two outs in order, but then found big trouble. The next five batters resulted in two hit by pitches, two walks and a single to scratch out two Pioneer runs and put them ahead 7-5 heading into the eighth.
Then, Marist’s bats came back to life.
Lincoln dunked a one-out double down the right field line to chase Rogan from the game in favor of senior right-hander Charlie Costello. His first batter, Rodriguez, rolled a ground ball to second that McGuire bobbled and threw past first base to allow Lincoln to score. Costello then retired Rivera for the second out to bring Claiborn to the plate. With the tying run on base, he cracked a two-out, go-ahead two-run shot to right-center field, Marist’s biggest hit of the season thus far.
Marzo delivered a scoreless eighth and freshman catcher Drew McGowan lined an RBI knock to center in the ninth to give the Red Foxes an insurance run heading to the bottom of the ninth. Redshirt sophomore ace Will Taylor warmed up throughout the late innings for a potential outing, but Marist head coach Lance Ratchford stuck with Marzo, who worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to lock down a magical victory to keep the Red Foxes’ season alive.
Next up, Marist faces fifth-seeded Quinnipiac in another must-win matchup Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. If they win again, they play the loser of Rider vs. Fairfield Saturday night.
Edited By Ben Leeds
Graphic By Nathaniel Babcock
Photo by Kira Crutcher
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