In a weekend full of ups and downs, Marist baseball lost two out of three in a road conference series against Merrimack this weekend.
The Red Foxes have been hot and cold as of late. They entered this weekend’s series after suffering a sweep at the hands of Niagara in their previous conference matchup and defeating Army West Point in a midweek non-conference game.
Merrimack entered the weekend coming off a series loss to Sacred Heart and a midweek loss against UMass Lowell. The Warriors were tied for sixth place, only three wins behind Marist, with this series proving to be pivotal for both teams as they near the end of the regular season.
The Red Foxes fell to Merrimack 8-0 in game one. Senior right-handed pitcher Caleb Kempler had a solid start for Marist but the bullpen struggled against the hot Merrimack offense. Kempler went five innings and allowed zero earned runs on two hits and five strikeouts.
The Marist offense was completely halted, getting one hit and striking out eleven times. The Red Foxes’ only hit came in the top of the fifth when redshirt sophomore catcher Scott Esposito singled to left field. Merrimack redshirt sophomore right-hander Nick Hunkele delivered eight shutout innings in what became his longest outing of the season.
Scoreless into the sixth inning, graduate student outfielder Joey Frammartino clobbered a three-run homerun to put the Warriors on the board, and their offense exploded from there. Another three-run homer driven to centerfield by senior first baseman Greg Christino made it a 7-0 game in the seventh. The Warriors third home run of the day came in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of senior outfielder Chris Goode. His solo shot extended the Merrimack lead to eight and capped off the scoring in game one.
Marist took game two, winning 18-3 in a complete flip from game one. The Red Foxes’ offense erupted with 17 hits as every batter reached base at least once. The starting pitching was strong once again as redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Hartley tossed 6.1 innings of one run baseball.
Sophomore infielder Noel Rivera started the scoring, coming around to score in the top of the first and giving Marist an early 1-0 lead. Redshirt sophomore Chris Diaz went deep to right field in the second to drive in two more runs for the Red Foxes. Marist had a big third inning, plating five more runs and extending its lead to eight.
The middle innings were quiet but a loud two-run home run off the bat of freshman infielder Connor Lawrence broke the silence to make it an 11-0 game. Merrimack got one on the board in the bottom of the inning and plated two more in the eighth, but the Marist lead proved to be too large.
The Red Foxes put an exclamation point on game two in the ninth. Senior infielder AJ Brotz hit the teams third straight RBI single to drive in two runs. Senior infielder Ayden McNelly’s RBI single through the left side drove in Marist’s eighteenth and final run.
The outcome of game two did not transfer to the final game, as Marist lost Sunday’s rubber match 11-7 in a back and forth game.
The Red Foxes jumped out to an early first inning lead courtesy of back-to-back solo shots from Rivera and Brotz. Brotz continued his hot hitting into the third when he doubled and came around to score, increasing the Marist lead to four. Sophomore infielder Jayden Hamiliton’s home run over the left field fence put Merrimack on the board before Cristino’s two-RBI single tied the game in the bottom of the third.
Merrimack picked up the lead in the fourth, jumping ahead 7-4. Junior catcher/right-handed pitcher Cole Yennaco homered to left field to lead off the inning. The Warriors scored two more unearned runs on a throwing error and wild pitch, but Marist fought back. Rivera smacked an RBI double down the left field line to cut into the Merrimack lead before graduate student outfielder Nathan Lincoln’s sac fly made it a one-run game in the fifth.
Sophomore infielder Matt Deshiro homered in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim the Warrior lead. Merrimack capitalized on Marist’s mistakes after two hit batters and a throwing error resulted in three runs. Freshman catcher Garret McGovern’s RBI ground rule double made it a 13-7 game and secured the series win for the Warriors.
Marist will be back in action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday for a road non-conference matchup against Albany.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo from Marist Athletics
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