April 18, 2009
Box Score
OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. - The Marist baseball team suffered a 4-3 loss in the second of a three-game non-conference series against New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) on Saturday. Senior right fielder Kyle Meyer (East Greenbush, N.Y.) hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning for the Red Foxes, who are now 18-18 this season.
NYIT's Andrew Guarassi earned the victory, allowing just two hits and two runs in eight innings. Guarassi walked four and struck out seven as he improved to 3-4. Mike Roth pitched the ninth to earn his second save of the season. Marist sophomore right-hander Kyle Putnam (Newburgh, N.Y.) took the loss, falling to 1-3. Putnam allowed seven hits and four runs in 7.1 innings of work, walking one and striking out three as he fell to 1-3.
NYIT struck first, as third baseman Effrey Valdez belted a long two-run homer to left-center to take a 2-0 lead. The Bears added a run in the second, when Denten Neill reached on an infield single, and Ryan Campbell came in to score from second to give the Bears a 3-0 lead.
Guarassi retired the first 11 Red Foxes he faced, and had allowed just one hit until the sixth inning. After junior second baseman John Prano (Oviedo, Fla.) reached on an error, Meyer belted his first homer of the season, a shot to right-center field which brought the Red Foxes to within one at 3-2.
Meanwhile, after allowing three runs in the first two innings, Putnam settled down and retired the side in order in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the eighth, Brian Smith led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Denten Neill. At that point, Putnam was replaced by senior left-hander Peter Barone (Hauppauge, N.Y.). The first batter he faced was Valdez, who lofted a single to right field, and Smith beat the play to the plate to give NYIT a 4-2 lead. Barone retired the next two hitters, keeping the Red Foxes' deficit at two entering the top of the ninth.
Roth came in to start the ninth. Pinch-hitter Ryan Gauck (Clifton Park, N.Y.) doubled to start the inning, and was driven in on a two-out single up the middle by pinch-hitter George Agostini (Rehoboth, Mass.), making the score 4-3. Prano then drew a walk to put the go-ahead run on base, but Meyer grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.
With the win, NYIT improved to 12-20.
The teams will play the rubber game of their three-game set on Sunday, and the scene will shift to McCann Baseball Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. Junior right-hander B.J. Martin (Manalapan, N.J.), who struck out 19 in his last start, is Marist's scheduled starter. An audio broadcast will be available at GoRedFoxes.com starting at 12:55 p.m.
