On a beautiful Saturday afternoon at McCann Field, Marist baseball continued its weekend series against MAAC opponent Quinnipiac after defeating them 7-5 in Friday’s matchup. Saturday’s game was fairly lopsided; Marist jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first and never looked back.
After a productive showing on both sides of the ball, the Red Foxes won the series after a 9-2 win. That was despite 10 hits by the Bobcats, but ten men left on base.
Marist had a dynamic offense, which included mainly singles and walks. Sophomore third baseman Noel Rivera had a dominant day at the plate, finishing with four hits in four at-bats, along with a stolen base and an RBI. Redshirt junior pitcher Tyler Hartley had a fruitful outing, which included five innings of one-run baseball, even though he did let up seven hits.
The defense had a big part to do with that, and head coach Lance Ratchford was very impressed by the job they did, as well as a recent defensive adjustment the team made to their infield.
“We have made a little bit of adjustment by putting [senior infielder AJ Brotz] at short and sliding [Rivera] over to third,” said Ratchford as he talked about the new adjustment. “I think it’s definitely improved our defense tremendously.”
Following RBI from Rivera and redshirt sophomore catcher Scott Esposito, freshman infielder/pitcher Connor Lawrence, as well as a run on a passed ball, Marist led the game early. That RBI from Rivera was his only one of the game, but his performance at the dish was impressive, and that is something Ratchford touched on.
“You know, he’s our most talented player that we have,” Ratchford said. “When he’s rolling… there are not a whole lot of guys in the league that are better than him.”
The Red Foxes went through a bit of an offensive slump following the first inning, only scoring one more run prior to the fifth, where they lit up Quinnipiac’s senior pitcher Mike Poncini for three runs. This was the theme for Marist throughout the rest of the contest, one in which they scored another run later in the game. Their performance at the plate was splendid, and it was an all-around performance by the Marist hitters.
“We just talked about it, like, just having laser focus on those…big plays are what championship teams do,” Ratchford said of the Red Foxes’ performance at the plate on Saturday afternoon. “We’re getting to that point where we’re playing and doing things that are reflecting championship teams.”
Outside of a lone home run by Quinnipiac senior infielder Alex Irizarry, the Bobcats didn’t produce much offense, and Irizarry’s long shot was the only one of the game by either team. The performance by Marist caps off another win, which gives them the series win against a pivotal MAAC opponent. If the Red Foxes want to sweep the series, however, they will have to focus on certain aspects of their game.
“We just have to be consumed with the details,” said Ratchford. “We have to throw strikes, we have to take care of the baseball and we have to deliver with runners in scoring position in fewer than two outs.”
The Red Foxes will now look to complete the series sweep of the Bobcats, a team they have. 559 winning percentage against. That game will take place on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for the same time as Saturday’s game, at 12 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo from Marist Athletics (Michael Lacroix-Fralish)
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