Marist baseball concluded week two of its 2026 campaign with a trip down south to face Vanderbilt. Following a sweep against Eastern Tennessee State last weekend, the Red Foxes again dropped three straight to the Commodores.
A well-rounded and sought-after ball club, the well-known “Vandy Boys” finished last season 43-18 overall and 19-11 in the SEC. During the 2025 MLB Draft, five players from Vanderbilt were selected, including a second-round pick and two third-round picks.
In game one, the Commodores gave the nod to junior right-hander Connor Fennell. Fennell ended the 2025 season with an undefeated 6-0 record and a 2.53 ERA through 53.1 innings.
The Red Foxes struck first; Vanderbilt caught slugging sophomore shortstop Noel Rivera stealing, but freshman outfielder TJ Baer scampered home from third to give Marist a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first inning.
Marist turned to its ace pitcher, redshirt junior left-hander Will Taylor, for his second start of the season. He struggled to find his groove early; Vanderbilt scored three runs in the first.
Making up for the loss, the Red Foxes evened up the score 3-3 in the third courtesy of a solo home run by Baer, his first of the season. Taylor threw three scoreless innings through the fourth before being pulled in the fifth for redshirt sophomore right-hander Andrew Fierro after giving up six runs in the frame.
Marist scored two more runs in the sixth while Vanderbilt displayed offensive command, scoring seven more runs in the eighth en route to a 16-5 victory.
While setting their sights on limiting Vanderbilt’s offensive output, Marist entrusted redshirt junior right-hander Tyler Hartley with the start in game two. Hartley lasted just 1.2 innings after giving up four runs in each of the first two innings. Senior right-hander Jake Burt replaced him; he pitched 1.1 innings and gave up two runs.
By the middle innings, the Commodores had built a 10-0 lead, though Marist had a couple of bright spots in scoreless frames from freshman right-hander Jason Bassett and redshirt freshman right-hander Aiden Vargas.
As for the Commodores’ pitching, sophomore right-hander Austin Nye went five scoreless innings and allowed just three hits while junior right-hander Brennan Seiber dealt two innings of one-run ball out of the bullpen.
Marist finally put up one run in the sixth after a groundout by senior infielder AJ Brotz scored Baer from third. However, the game ended due to run rule in the sixth after two more RBI’s finalized the score at 12-1.
After dropping the first two games of the series, Marist looked for a positive result in game three. In their way was University of Georgia transfer, sophomore right-hander Nate Taylor. Taylor dealt four innings of work, giving up an unearned run on a passed ball. Defensively, Taylor and the Commodores dominated the remaining five innings with a total of 12 strikeouts.
The Marist offense continued to struggle; they put up one run and three hits through all nine innings of play to drop the final game 8-1.
The Red Foxes ended their series by getting swept for the second week in a row. They sit 0-6 on the season with a team ERA of 10.72.
Marist will travel to Holly Springs, N.C., to face BIG 10 contender Purdue University for a four-game series beginning on Friday.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic by Quinn DiFiore
Photo from Marist Athletics
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