Marist Red Foxes Baseball Splits DH at Richmond

RICHMOND, VA – After falling in Game 1 on a ninth inning walk off, the Marist baseball team picked up a 10-8 win at the Richmond Spider’s in the Game 2 series finale on Friday.
The Red Foxes totaled 21 hits and scored 17 runs between the two games and with the split now stand at 10-14 (3-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).

Game 1:
Marist got on the board first in the top of the second inning when junior Randy Taveras reached on an error by the third baseman and redshirt junior Jordan Roper walked. After a strikeout by the following batter, Roper and Taveras advanced and Taveras scored on an error by the catcher to give the Red Foxes the 1-0 lead.

Two innings later, the Spiders took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back singles, an RBI sac fly to left, a walk and an RBI single.

In the top of the fourth, Taveras led off with a double, Roper walked, senior Matt Iantosca knocked in Taveras with an RBI single and freshman Nick Cantone followed with an RBI single and after two and a half innings, it was 3-2 Marist.

Richmond followed in the bottom of the inning with a walk, an error by the shortstop, a sac bunt and an RBI sac fly to right field and evened the score at 3-3.

The Red Foxes took their third lead of the game in the top of the fifth when redshirt senior Greg Kocinski led off with a solo homerun to right field for the 4-3 lead.

However, the lead did not last long as the Spiders answered and regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back solo home runs to open the inning and take a 5-4 lead.

For the third straight inning, Marist regained the lead in the top of the sixth when Iantosca walked and advanced on a wild pitch, Cantone laced an RBI single to left and junior Anthony Lazar smashed his first home run of the year and fifth of his career, a two run shot to left center that gave the Red Foxes a 7-5 advantage.

Richmond brought the game to within one run in the bottom of the inning on a two out bunt single, a stolen base and an RBI single and then tied the game in the seventh with a walk, fielder’s choice, single and an RBI single through the right side.

After a scoreless top of the ninth inning, the Spiders walked off with an 8-7 win after a single, two out hit by pitch and RBI single that scored the runner from second.

Game 2:
Marist scored first for the second straight game, when in the top of the second inning, redshirt sophomore Tyler Kapuscinski led off with a single, Lazar followed with a single through the left side and junior Frankie Gregoire laced an RBI single to center. Roper then followed with an RBI single through the left side and it was 2-0 Red Foxes.

In the top of the third inning, senior Andrew Rouse walked, Kocinski launched a two run home run to right, Kapuscinski and Lazar singled and Kapuscinski scored on a double play ground out to give Marist a 5-0 advantage.

The Spiders trimmed the deficit to 5-1 in the bottom of the inning with a walk, fielder’s choice, single and RBI single.

In the bottom of the fourth, Richmond climbed to within 5-4 with a walk, double, two RBI single, a bunt single, a walk and a run scored on a double play ground out.

Two innings later, Roper led off with a hit by pitch and stole second and two batters later, freshman Reece Armitage smoked an RBI double to left center. After sophomore Patrick Lightner was hit by a pitch, Rouse roped a two RBI double down the left field line to give the Red Foxes an 8-4 lead.

One inning later, a Lazar and Gregoire walk and Lazar stolen base was followed by a Roper RBI sac bunt to increase the lead to 9-4.

In the bottom of the inning, the Spiders answered back and made it a two run game with a walk, single and three run home run to left field.

An Armitage walk and advancement on a wild pitch, followed by a Lightner sac bunt, Rouse smacked his second straight RBI double to left center that scored Armitage to give Marist a 10-7 advantage.

After a scoreless bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth, Richmond rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth with a walk, fielder’s choice, single and RBI single to right. However, with the tying run at the plate, senior Mike Coss ended the threat with a strike out swinging for his fourth save and the 10-8 Red Fox win.