For the first time since 2024, Marist softball took on Mount St. Mary’s, sweeping the Mountaineers in a doubleheader at Our Lady of the Meadows Field in Emmitsburg, M.D.
The Marist offense scored 19 runs on 25 hits across both games, headlined by contributions throughout the lineup. Senior outfielder Peyton Pusey, graduate student infielder Haley Ahr, junior outfielder Samantha Rogers and senior catcher Isabella Manory recorded multiple hits in game one; Pusey, Rogers and Manory also tallied multiple hits in game two.
Freshman outfielder/first baseman Annabelle Geiser and freshman utility Maia Salvo also registered more than one knock in the back end of the twinbill; since being re-inserted into the starting lineup on March 21, Salvo has hit .400 with a home run, two walks and has driven in three runs.
Each time Marist scored, Mount St. Mary’s inched closer. The Mountaineers’ feistiness made them hard to put away, even for graduate student pitcher Ava Metzger and redshirt sophomore pitcher Stella Blanchard. Entering Tuesday’s action, the tandem only surrendered one earned run in 39 innings combined against MAAC opponents.
Despite falling short, Mount St. Mary’s scored nine runs on 17 hits against Marist’s best arms, led by junior infielder Avery Dinges. Dinges went 6-10 and scored five runs on the day; in game one, the junior had three doubles and a triple. Senior outfielder Gina Del Giorno chipped in five hits of her own and drove in five across both games.
“They are a very scrappy team,” said head coach Joe Ausanio. “They do a really good job of staying short to the ball and putting the ball in play. I was very impressed with the way they hit the ball today.”
In game one, Metzger grinded her way through five innings and allowed three runs. Metzger’s four-start complete game streak came to an end, as the Mountaineers created traffic on the bases in four of Metzger’s five innings pitched. The Mount tallied eight hits off of Marist’s ace; in Metzger’s previous four starts, she allowed eight hits combined.
Sophomore pitcher Ellie Meier opposed Metzger in the circle. Two bunt singles by Pusey and Geiser set the tone, as the Red Foxes tagged Meier for four runs in the first inning. Ahr’s two-RBI single initiated the scoring; she entered play hitting .444 in the month of March.
After the four-run first, Meier settled in. The sophomore only allowed one run over the next five innings while the Mountaineers began to claw their way back. Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Mount St. Mary’s cut the lead in half via RBI knocks from Dinges and Del Giorno.
In the bottom of the sixth, junior pitcher/outfielder Anna Sidlowski replaced Metzger and kept the stingy Mountaineers off the board. Looking to pad their two-run lead, the Red Foxes pounced for five runs in the seventh.
With runners on second and third and one out, Ahr laced a hard ground ball that was misplayed by Dinges, allowing Salvo to score. Shortly thereafter, an RBI single from Rogers and RBI doubles from sophomore catcher/utility Sienna Kunze and Manory increased the lead to seven. Manory continued to swing a hot bat out of the seven-hole, adding more depth to an already deep lineup; her 1.122 OPS ranks third in the MAAC.
Expectedly, the Mountaineers did not go away without a fight. The Mount plated two runs in the frame and even had the tying run on deck, but freshman pitcher Kaylie DeChicchis locked down a one-out save to preserve the 10-5 victory.
The Red Foxes continued to punish Mountaineer pitching in game two, this time freshman pitcher Emmaleigh Zagrodnicheck. The freshman entered the contest as Mount’s leader in ERA (3.61) and innings pitched (40.2), but her inability to put Marist away with two outs did her in.
Five of the six runs the Red Foxes scored off Zagrodnicheck came with two outs. After Salvo drew a two-out walk, Pusey ripped a two-RBI triple to deep right field to give Marist a 2-0 lead in the second. An inning later, Kunze launched a solo home run and Manory smashed a two-run home run to center field to give the Red Foxes a 5-0 lead.
“She had a really bad swing before she hit the home run and I looked at her and said, ‘you have one more swing left, let’s go,’’’ said Ausanio. “She sat on a changeup and drove it over the center field wall…she has a lot of power and her power alley is center field.”
Blanchard used her rise ball/changeup combo to tally a career-high 10 strikeouts. In the first two innings, she struck out five hitters with the rise ball. The redshirt sophomore tossed her sixth complete game of the season, tied for fourth most in the MAAC.
“It was jumping, and I was really pleased with it,” said Ausanio. “She is really good at being able to throw [the changeup] in any count. When you are calling pitches, and you see that, it makes it a lot of fun.”
Despite Blanchard being dialed in, Mount St. Mary’s continued to apply pressure. Trailing 5-1, sophomore infielder Emma Tawney powered a flat rise ball over the wall in left field to cut the lead to two. After Marist tacked on a run in the fourth, the Mountaineers responded with two of their own to trim the lead to one.
In the fifth, the Red Foxes distanced themselves from Mount St. Mary’s for good. Salvo and Pusey notched RBI singles to push the lead to three, and Blanchard allowed just one run over the final three innings to help Marist improve to a conference-best 9-1.
The Red Foxes will head down to Chapel Hill, N.C., to participate in the Mizuno Showdown with Arizona State and the University of North Carolina. First pitch is set for Friday at noon against the Sun Devils.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo by Cassidy Connors
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