Marist Splits Twinbill to Close Regular Season

By Pete Fagan

POUGHKEEPSIE– Marist baseball (27-24, 15-9 MAAC) split the doubleheader against Siena (18-33, 12-12 MAAC) to finish the regular season. They were high-scoring affairs, as both the Red Foxes and Saints reached double-digit runs in each game.
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AME ONE SUMMARY
Siena took a 2-0 lead through the first two innings.

Frankie Gregoire answered with a home run the third, driving in Randy Taveras.
The Saints had a big fourth inning, scoring four runs on three hits and an error including two triples.

The Red Foxes responded with an even stronger bottom of inning as they batted around for seven runs.

Brain Hart led off with an RBI-single to drive in Reece Armitage.

Moments later, Randy Taveras was hit by a pitch with loaded bases, sending Gene Napolitano home.

Gregoire followed him up with a 2-RBI single to score Anthony Lazar and Brian Hart.

Tyler Kapuscinski smacked a big double to send Taveras home directly after.

Napolitano got his second turn at the plate in the inning, and singled up the middle for two RBIs. Kapuscinski and Gregoire reached home.

Gregoire stayed red-hot in the fifth with a massive three-run homer to left field. Marist led 12-6 at this point.

Siena wasn’t done however, as the Saints added four more runs in the top of the sixth on two runs and an error.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lazar and Taveras each recorded RBI-singles for insurance to boost the lead to 14-10, and the Red Foxes held their advantage for the win.

Game Two Summary
The Saints got out to a hot start once again, leading 3-0 after the top of the first.

Taveras and Gregoire each recorded an RBI-single in the bottom of the inning to tally two runs.

Siena scored once again in the second for a 4-2 advantage.

Gregoire drove in Taveras in the third with another RBI-single.

Robbie Armitage reached home on a fielding error in the fourth, and then Reece Armitage was driven home by a bunt-single from Patrick Lightner to give Marist a 5-4 lead.

The Saints scored four runs on four hits and a wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning to move ahead 8-5.

Hart smacked a big 2-RBI double to right center field to drive in Reece Armitage and Gregoire in the bottom of the inning.

Robbie Armitage blasted a 3-RBI double in the sixth to put Marist in the lead once again. Kapuscinski, Gregoire and Lazar all were driven home.

The Saints tied the game with two unearned runs in the eighth, and then went ahead with a four-run ninth inning. Brian Kelly came up big with a 2-RBI single to give Siena a 14-10 lead.

Anthony Lazar hit a sacrifice-fly in the ninth to drive in Niko Amory, but Marist was unable to close the gap any more and Siena escaped with the win.

Marist closed the season with the MAAC’s highest batting average (.289), on base percentage (.380) and slugging percentage (.421).