April 18, 2010
Box Score
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - The Marist baseball team earned a 12-1 triumph over Niagara in the rubber game of the teams' three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series on Sunday at Sal Maglie Stadium. Senior second baseman John Prano (Oviedo, Fla.) went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored, and red-shirt sophomore left-hander Chad Gallagher (Southboro, Mass.) allowed just one unearned run in seven innings to earn the victory.
As a team, the Red Foxes pounded out 15 hits. In addition to Prano, five more Red Foxes enjoyed two-hit games. Senior shortstop Richard Curylo (Staten Island, N.Y.) went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Junior center fielder Jon Schwind (Hilton, N.Y.), hitting third for the first time this season, went 2-for-6 with a run scored and an RBI. Junior left fielder Ricky Pacione (Newburgh, N.Y.) went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Junior right fielder Michael Gallic (Tolland, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. Freshman third baseman Zach Shank (Lititz, Pa.) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. The Red Foxes were 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts, with Curylo, Schwind, Gallic and Shank each swiping a bag.
Marist began the scoring with three runs in the top of the second. Pacione led off the inning with a single, and red-shirt junior catcher Bryce Nugent (Binghamton, N.Y.) tripled to drive him in and make the score 1-0. Gallic followed with a single to score Nugent and make the score 2-0. After a sacrifice bunt by senior designated hitter Ryan Gauck (Clifton Park, N.Y.) moved Gallic to second, he scored on a single up the middle by Shank for the third run of the inning.
Freshman first baseman Mike Orefice (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) led off the third inning with a walk, and advanced to third on a single by Schwind. Schwind then stole second to give the Red Foxes two runners in scoring position. With one out, Nugent grounded out to second to plate Orefice, making the score 4-0. Gallic followed by hitting a ground ball to Niagara first baseman Ryan McCauley, and Gallic outraced McCauley to the bag to score Schwind as Marist took a 5-0 lead.
Marist added to its lead with a two-out rally in the fourth. Curylo singled, stole second and scored from there on an RBI single by Schwind.
In the fifth, the Red Foxes put together a three-run inning to extend their lead to 9-0. With the bases loaded, a two-run single by Prano scored Nugent and Gauck to put Marist up 8-0. The Red Foxes scored their third run of the inning when Orefice reached on a fielder's choice, which drove in Shank.
Niagara scored in the sixth to cut the Marist lead to 9-1, but the Red Foxes added a pair of runs in the seventh and a single run in the eighth to close out the scoring. In the seventh, Shank was hit by a pitch, advanced all the way to third on a passed ball, and scored on a Prano single. Prano advanced to third on a single by Curylo coupled with a throwing error, and came home on a sacrifice fly by Orefice. In the eighth, Pacione led off with a ground-rule double, and scored with two outs on a pinch-hit single by freshman Shane Matthews (Saratoga, N.Y.). The hit, which was the first of Matthews' career, and it put Marist up 12-1.
Meanwhile, Gallagher pitched an efficient seven innings for the Red Foxes. In the longest outing of his career, he allowed six hits, no walks and one unearned run in 93 pitches. He generated 12 ground-ball outs as he improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.60. Freshman left-hander Brendan Chapin (South Weymouth, Mass.) pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout. The Marist pitchers did not issue a walk on the day.
Marist improved to 22-12 overall and 9-3 in MAAC play, gaining sole possession of second place in the conference with the victory. The Red Foxes only trail Canisius, which is 8-1 in the MAAC. Niagara is now 12-23 overall and 8-4 in conference.
The Red Foxes will return to action on Tuesday with a non-conference game at Binghamton. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
