POUGHEEPSIE, New York – The Marist baseball team scored a combined 14 runs, including a walk off two run home run by redshirt junior Chris Tracz, in the final two innings of both Game 1 and Game 2 of its doubleheader vs the Niagara Purple Eagles, to pick up 13-9 and 9-7 wins and a three game sweep of the Purple Eagles.

With the wins, Marist has now won five straight games and are .500 (14-14) overall on the season for the first time this year.

The team also saw several career milestones as senior Charlie Jerla got the win in Game 1, his 23^rd career victory which moved him into 3^rd place all-time in program history and junior Frankie Gregoire hit his 23^rd career home run in Game 2, moving him into a tie for 2^nd place all-time in program history.

SUMMARY GAME 1:

The Red Foxes opened the scoring in the bottom of the third when junior Anthony Lazar reached on an error by the third baseman. Senior Andrew Rouse followed with a single, before Lazar advanced to third when Rouse was caught stealing and senior Greg Kocinski scored Lazar from first on an RBI ground out to take the 1-0 lead.

The Purple Eagles tied the score in the next inning by reaching on a throwing error by the third baseman that was followed by a single to right field that allowed the runner to score from first on a fielding error by the right fielder.

Marist answered in the bottom of the fourth when Gregoire reached on a fielding error by the right fielder and advanced to third. Taveras laced an RBI single up the middle and senior Matt Iantosca followed with a single through the right side that advanced Taveras to third. Redshirt junior Jordan Roper pinch hit and scored Taveras and advanced Iantosca to second on an RBI sac bunt and freshman Nick Cantone followed with an RBI single up the middle. Lazar then ripped an RBI double that brought home Cantone and it was 5-1 Red Foxes.

Again Niagara answered in its next at bat with a runner reaching on a throwing error by the shortstop and two batters later, an RBI double trimmed the deficit to 5-2.

In the top of the sixth, the Purple Eagles tied the game with a single up the middle, a fielding error by the center fielder and two batters later, a hit by pitch loaded the bases. A three run RBI double by the next batter cleared the bases and tied the game at 5-5.

However, Marist was not going to be denied the victory and in the bottom of the inning, Iantosca and Roper reached on back-to-back one out walks. Sophomore Fletcher Szabo pinch ran for Iantosca and Tracz pinch hit.
During the at bat, Szabo and Roper advanced to third and second on a wild pitch, before Tracz knocked home both runners with a two RBI single through the right side. Lazar followed with a double down the left field line to set up men on first and third and Rouse was intentionally walked to load the bases. Kocinski followed with an RBI walk and both Kapuscinski and junior Frankie Gregoire followed with RBI singles, before Taveras knocked home both Kapuscinski and Kocinski with a two RBI single. After a Niagara pitching change, freshman Reece Armitage pinch hit and walked to reload the bases and two batters later, Tracz picked up an RBI hit by pitch to give the Red Foxes the 13-5 lead.

The Purple Eagles answered in the top of the seventh with two singles and two two run home runs but the next batter lined out to left field to give Marist the 13-9 win and the series victory after winning Game 1 of the three game set on Friday.

SUMMARY GAME 2:

Niagara took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with a one out double and an RBI double.

The Red Foxes answered in the bottom of the inning when Lazar led off with a single to the shortstop and two batters later, Kocinski singled down the right field line, advancing Lazar to third. Kapuscinski and Gregoire followed with RBI singles and Taveras walked to load the bases, before Roper hit an RBI sac fly to left field to give Marist the 3-1 lead.

The score remained the same until the top of the fifth when Niagara trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with a solo home run and then tied the score at 3-3 with another solo home run in the top of the sixth.

Two innings later, the Purple Eagles took their second lead of the game in the top of the eighth with a one out walks, a double and another walk to load the bases. After a pinch hitter was hit by a pitch to score the run from third and keep the bases loaded, an RBI single, a fielding error on the second baseman that allowed a run to score and a wild pitch that scored a fourth run gave Niagara a 7-3 lead.

However, similarly to the first game, Marist was not going to be denied the victory and tied the game with four runs in the bottom of the inning when Kapuscinski led off with a walk and Gregoire smashed his 23^rd career home run to right field. Taveras followed with a double to right, and after a Purple Eagle pitching change, advanced to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Tracz brought home Taveras with an RBI ground out and Armitage singled to center. Lazar followed with another single and Rouse laced an RBI single to right that scored Armitage and evened the score at 7-7.

Niagara threatened in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs on a double, an intentional walk and a walk. However, redshirt senior Tyler Dearden escaped the jam, getting the next batter to hit a fielder's choice that Rouse made a nice snag on and threw to second for the force out to end the inning.

With a chance at their third walk off win of the season, the Red Foxes came to bat in the bottom of the ninth and Taveras reached on a one out hit by pitch. Two batters later, Tracz provided the late game heroics, smacking a walk off two run home run to right center to give Marist the 9-7 win and series sweep.

KEY STATS GAME 1:

• The Red Foxes outhit the Purple Eagles 11-9
• Marist made 4 errors that allowed 3 unearned runs to score and Niagara made two errors that allowed 2 unearned runs to score
• The Red Foxes left 6 men on base, while the Purple Eagles stranded 3

KEY STATS GAME 2:

• Marist outhit Niagara 12-10
• Each team left 9 runners on base

GAME NOTES:

• Lazar picked up 2 hits in each game, his third straight and 12^th overall multi-hit game this season and his two runs scored in Game 1 and one run scored in Game 2 marked his 6^th game in the last seven with at least one run scored
• Rouse's hit in each game extended his hitting streak to six games
• Kapuscinski's hit in each game extended his hitting streak to seven games, his RBI in each game gave him at least 1 RBI in the last four games and his 1 run scored in Game 1 and 2 runs scored in Game 2 extended his run scored streak to five games
• Gregoire 3 hits in Game 2 tied a season high and his 3 RBI in Game 2 were a season high
• Taveras's 3 RBIs in Game 1 were a season high and his 2 hits in both Game 1 and Game 2 marked his 8^th multi-game of the season
• Tracz's 3 RBI in both Game 1 and Game 2 tied a season high and marked his first back-to-back multi-RBI games of the year
• Iantosca's 2 hits in Game 1 tied a season high and was his 6^th multi-hit game of the season
• Dearden's scoreless appearances in both Game 1 and Game 2 marked his 4^th scoreless outing of the season

QUOTE:

"It was a hard fought day" said head coach Chris Tracz. "I don't think I've had a series like that at my time here at Marist where we just really really competed for 16 innings. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't always effective but at the end of the day we fought and played with a lot of resilience and togetherness and figured out a way to win. I couldn't be happier with the results."

UP NEXT:

The Red Foxes remain home and return to action on Wednesday, April 18 when they host the Binghamton Bearcats in a non-conference doubleheader (2 p.m.) at McCann Field.