In their fourth elimination game of the MAAC playoffs, the Marist Red Foxes suffered an 11-4 defeat against the Quinnipiac Bobcats to end their bid for the 2025 MAAC Baseball Championship at Clover Stadium.
The Marist offense faltered with traffic on the basepaths all day. Despite tallying 12 hits, the Red Foxes left 16 runners on base and hit into three double plays.
Sophomore outfielder Lewis Rodriguez added his third leadoff single of the tournament on just the second pitch of the contest; The Garnerville, N.Y. native finished 14-for-25 (.560) with three extra-base hits, eight runs scored and just one strikeout in the tournament located less than five miles away from his hometown.
Rodriguez later stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but senior infielder CJ Willis robbed Marist of an early run playing out of position. He made a stellar sliding catch in right field to steal an RBI hit from junior infielder/outfielder AJ Brotz.
Senior left-handed pitcher John Hacker put a zero on the scoreboard in the first inning, but it did not come easily. He surrendered a 3-1 count three times in the frame and threw just three first-pitch strikes against 11 batters in his outing. He lasted 1.2 innings after giving up four earned runs on five hits while striking out three. All of the runs charged to Hacker scored via the long ball.
Hacker allowed the first homer to redshirt freshman catcher Cole Constable. The former Maryland Terrapin gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead with his second home run of the season. Quinnipiac scored six runs and homered three times in the second inning alone.
With runners on the corners and two away, head coach Lance Ratchford handed the ball to freshman right-handed pitcher Logan Scholl to face Willis. After reaching base successfully for his 37th consecutive game in his first at-bat, Willis extended Quinnipiac’s lead to 5-0 with a three-run homer that clanked off the foul pole.
Junior infielder Alex Irizarry left no doubt one batter later, sending a home run completely out of Clover Stadium.
Irizarry added his 15th homer of the season in the eighth to cap off a tremendous day. He finished 5-for-5 with two home runs, four runs scored, two RBIs and a double – a triple shy of the cycle.
Despite loading the bases in the top of the third, Marist only cut the deficit by one due to a critical double play. Rodriguez left on contact with the bases loaded and was doubled off after graduate student infielder Johnny Knox caught the line drive from graduate outfielder Jason Claiborn.
Brotz notched the RBI he was robbed of earlier, but the Red Foxes only added one run in the frame. In the fourth, Marist grounded into another critical double play before ending redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Griffin Seibel’s day. The Red Foxes left six runners on base through the first four innings.
Graduate right-handed pitcher Ryan O’Connell stranded two runners after relieving Seibel. Seibel converted his 67 pitches into 3.2 innings of one-run ball, issuing four walks and allowing five hits with two strikeouts.
Scholl ended his day with a strikeout as his lone out, surrendering two homers, two earned runs and a walk. Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Burt took over in the third but faced trouble in the fourth off a two-out rally from the Bobcats.
The Red Foxes tapped into six total pitchers, but it did not matter. The Bobcats tacked on three more in the sixth off a two-run error from MAAC All-Rookie Team freshman infielder Noel Rivera and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Constable.
A last-ditch effort of two runs off an RBI single from redshirt freshman outfielder Chris Diaz and a sacrifice fly from senior infielder/outfielder Nathan Lincoln was not enough for the Red Foxes, who were eliminated by the defeat.
After also using six pitchers in today’s game, Quinnipiac advances to play Rider later tonight. The winner of that game needs to top Fairfield twice tomorrow to claim the MAAC championship.
Marist concludes tournament play with a 3-2 record, acquiring every victory in an elimination game. After missing the playoffs in 2023 in their first season under Ratchford, the head coach now owns a 5-2 record in MAAC tournament elimination games.
He and Marist will aim to make a deeper run in the postseason in 2026 after finishing slightly below the .500 mark in 2025.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Nate Babcock
Photo by Caitlin Bombassei
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