Marist Red Foxes Split Twinbill With Iona Gaels

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON – The Marist baseball team split a doubleheader with Iona on Saturday, falling 3-1 in their first game of the day but bouncing back in the second, notching a 10-3 win over the Gaels. Marist took home two wins in the three-game series, and now stands at 11-8 (2-1 MAAC) while Iona is now 6-10 (1-2 MAAC).

Game 1 – Iona 3, Marist 1

The game remained scoreless through two before Iona scored first in the top of the third.  With Joseph Lovecchio on second and Brian Picone on first, Fran Kinsey singled up the middle to drive in the Gaels’ first run. Picone then scored on a Marist error, giving Iona a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third.

Marist answered back in the bottom half of the inning with the help of sophomore Anthony Lazar. After a single to left center, Lazar stole second, stole third, and then came home on a wild pitch.

An RBI from Lovecchio in the top of the fourth drove in the game’s final third run, which was scored by Matt Flannery.

Red-shirt junior Scott Boches (2-2) took the loss. Boches struck out nine in five innings, and only one of the three runs he permitted was earned. Junior Mike Coss finished the final two innings of the game with three strikeouts, giving the Red Foxes 12 strikeouts in seven innings in the game. Patrick Ryan (2-1) struck out six in five innings for Iona, while Jared Finkel pitched two scoreless innings for his third save.

Game 2 – Marist 10, Iona 3

An RBI single from red-shirt sophomore Chris Tracz brought home red-shirt senior Matt Pagano, who had doubled, for the game’s first run in the bottom of the second. The next inning, a double from sophomore Frankie Gregoire followed by an RBI single from Tyler Kapuscinski gave Marist a 2-0 advantage. However, Iona answered with three runs in the top of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Sean Breen.

The Red Foxes took the lead for good with a five-run sixth inning. Pagano led off the inning with a double. A sacrifice bunt by Tracz and an Iona error put Marist runners on first and third. Freshman Pat Lightner laid down a squeeze bunt to bring in Pagano and level the score at three.

With bases loaded, Gregoire knocked a single to left field driving in two more runs, giving the Red Foxes a 5-3 advantage. Just two at bats later, Marist tallied two more runs after a single to left field from junior Andrew Rouse stretched the Red Foxes’ lead 7-3.

Marist grabbed another three runs in the bottom of the seventh with the help two Iona errors and a sacrifice fly from Gregoire to send home Fitzpatrick.

Gregoire finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored in the game.

Junior Tony Romanelli (1-1) earned the win in relief for Marist. Romanelli struck out six in 3.1 innings. Freshman Connor McNamara started and struck out three in 4.2 innings. Sophomore Brandon Bonomo finished out the game with a scoreless ninth, in which he struck out one.

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