Marist softball extended their winning streak to 11 in a doubleheader sweep of the Manhattan Jaspers on Wednesday afternoon. Although the games were played between two MAAC foes, the contests do not count toward the conference standings.
The Red Foxes carried over their offensive momentum from their series sweep of Canisius. They scored 22 runs on 26 hits and swatted eight home runs across both games; 16 runs were scored with two outs. Senior outfielder Peyton Pusey and junior outfielder Samantha Rogers each belted two, while freshman utility Livia Wiltsie, freshman utility Maia Salvo, freshman first baseman/outfielder Lily Roumelis and senior catcher Isabella Manory each launched one.
Pusey – fresh off her second MAAC Player of the Week award – made life tough on Manhattan pitching. The senior accumulated six hits in nine at- bats, scoring three runs and driving in three runs. Her performance on Wednesday increases her batting average and OPS to .388 and 1.065, respectively, strengthening her MAAC Player of the Year case.
In game one, the Red Foxes fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, and then scored 10 unanswered runs to coast to a 10-2 victory. Seven of the 10 runs scored came with two outs; Salvo provided the exclamation point with a grand slam in the top of the seventh. In game two, Marist only held a two-run lead heading into the top of the sixth. The Red Foxes plated seven runs in the final two innings, six coming from a grand slam off the bat of Roumelis and a two-run homer from Manory.
Freshman pitcher Kaylie DeChicchis drew the start against junior pitcher/outfielder Karissa Spring. Entering Wednesday’s tilt, Spring hurled 125.2 innings, 28.1 innings more than the top innings-getter for the Red Foxes, redshirt sophomore Stella Blanchard (97.1).
Sophomore utility Brianna Estevez initiated the rally with a leadoff single. The Jasper freshmen took care of the rest; infielder Lainey Brown and catcher/utility Kaitlyn Moody ripped RBI singles to give Manhattan an early lead.
DeChicchis settled in after the first, striking out the side in order in the second. With one runner on and one out in the third, head coach Joe Ausanio inserted junior pitcher/outfielder Anna Sidlowski. Sidlowski plunked two hitters upon entry, but escaped the inning unscathed. The junior kept Manhattan on the ground; in 2.2 scoreless innings, Sidlowski induced five groundouts.
Spring held Marist scoreless through three, but ultimately surrendered five runs over the next two innings. In the fourth, Wiltsie walloped a one-out triple to straightaway center field, marking the Red Foxes’ first hit since senior outfielder Peyton Pusey’s leadoff single in the first. Senior catcher Isabella Manory hit a high chopper that glanced off the glove of Spring, allowing all runners to be safe. A batter later, junior outfielder Samantha Rogers laced a two-run home run to give Marist a 3-2 lead.
Holding a one-run lead, Wilstie provided Marist with insurance. The freshman launched her ninth home run of the campaign, a two-run blast to extend the Red Fox lead to three. https://x.com/MaristSoftball/status/2049539780233375770?s=20
After freshman first baseman/outfielder Annabelle Geiser’s RBI single gave Marist a 6-2 lead, the Red Foxes pounced for four more two-out runs in the seventh. Rogers’ RBI single was followed by a three-run shot from freshman utility player Maia Salvo, giving Marist a 10-2 lead. Blanchard fired two scoreless innings in the circle to preserve the victory.
In game two, sophomore pitcher Emma Bayor made her first start since Feb. 20 against Boston College. Bayor struck out three over two scoreless frames, but ran into trouble in the third. She only ceded one earned run in 2.1 innings; graduate student pitcher Ava Metzger did not allow the inherited runners to score.
Freshman pitcher Abby Turnpaugh appeared to secure a one-two-three second inning, but Brown botched a slow ground ball hit by freshman utility McKenna Manley. The lineup turned over to Pusey, and she made the Jaspers pay, powering one over the fence in center field to give the Red Foxes a 2-0 lead.
Marist’s success with two outs carried into the third inning. Graduate student infielder Haley Ahr led off the inning with a double, but found herself on third base with two outs. Rogers rocketed her second home run across both games to double the Red Fox lead to four.
Manhattan created traffic and tacked on a run off Bayor in the third, prompting graduate student pitcher Ava Metzger to make her return to the circle in Riverdale. Metzger pitched three seasons for Manhattan; she struck out 119 hitters in 162 innings pitched as a Jasper.
Metzger limited Manhattan to just one run in the inning. Against her former team, Metzger tossed 2.1 innings of two-run ball.
Pusey remained white-hot. In the top of the fifth, she launched her second home run of the game to grow the Marist lead to four. This game represented her second multi-home run game of the season; Pusey hit two home runs in game two of a doubleheader against Niagara on March 14.
Manhattan manufactured two two-out runs of their own against Metzger in the bottom of the fifth. RBI singles from senior infielder Jamie Falotico and sophomore utility Angelina Gencarelli cut the lead in half. Blanchard relieved Metzger with the go-ahead run at the plate, but Blanchard generated an inning-ending groundout to disrupt the threat.
In similar fashion to game one, the Red Foxes blew it open in the late innings. Roumelis’ grand slam and Manory’s two-run home run put the game away, while Blanchard slammed the door with 2.1 more scoreless innings.
Marist will return to Poughkeepsie to play their final series of the MAAC regular season against rival Siena. First pitch is set for Friday at noon.
Edited by Nate Shoemaker
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.