April 19, 2003
Box Score
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College baseball team swept a double-header from Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe, Fairfield, this afternoon, on the McCann Baseball Field, winning the first game 6-2 and the second game 2-0. The Red Foxes improve to 21-10-1 overall and are now 11-3 in MAAC play, while the Stags falls to 6-21-1 on the year and 4-9 in conference action.
Marist pitching was the key to both games as Chuck Bechtel (Royersford, PA) were both nearly flawless in their respective games. Bechtel tossed his second complete game shutout of the year in the second game, striking out 12 batters in his 7.0 innings of work, walking none, improving to 6-1 on the year. He scattered three Fairfield hits in that time and allowed only one runner to second base in the game. Tracz threw 8.0 innings in the first game, striking out nine, while allowing two runs, only one of them earned on eight hits. Marist pitching allowed only four walks in the double-header.
The Red Foxes scored first in the opener, when Mike Sidoti (Staten Island, NY) led off with a single and scored three batters later on an Eric Johnson (Park Forest, IL) single. Fairfield tied the game in the top of the third and took a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Marist tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth and then took the lead for good in the seventh, when John McGorty (West Sayville, NY) led off with a double and scored an a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Board (Ambler, PA), following a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Brock (Georgetown, DE). The Red Foxes tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth to make the final margin 6-2.
In the second game the Red Foxes broke up a scoreless pitchers duel in the fifth inning, started by a leadoff single from Brock. Board laid down another sacrifice bunt, followed by an RBI single from Kevin Buck (Scranton, PA). Buck then stole second and scored when Keith Brachold (Attleboro, MA) doubled to left center.
Brachold had hits in both games of the double-header, going 3-7, stretching his hitting streak to 17 consecutive games. Sidoti finished the double header 3-7 with two runs scored, while McGorty added three hits, two RBI and two runs for the Red Foxes.
Tom Maisano (Farmingdale, NY) took the loss in game one for the Stags, falling to 2-2 on the year. He allowed six runs on 10 hits, walking none and striking out four batters. Paul Gorra (Quaker Hill, CT) took the loss in the nightcap, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking none and striking out one in 6.0 innings of work. Fairfield managed only 12 hits in the 16 innings of the two games, with three coming from Andy Lynn (Montville, NY), all in the first game.
The two teams will play the third game of the weekend series on Monday, April 21st, with the first pitch scheduled to be thrown at 3:00 pm on the McCann Baseball Field.
