April 2, 2011
Final Stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Marist baseball team (18-6, 3-2 MAAC) split a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader at Canisius (12-15, 4-1 MAAC) Saturday afternoon, falling 12-8 in game, but rebounded to take game two, 13-3. Sophomore first baseman Mike Orefice (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) homered in each game, and finished the day a combined 4-for-6 with four runs scored, three RBIs and drew three walks for the Red Foxes.
In game one, Marist scored two runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI groundout by senior leftfielder/catcher Ricky Pacione (Newburgh, N.Y.) and a sacrifice fly by senior centerfielder Michael Gallic (Tolland, Conn.). Canisius responded in the bottom-half of the first with two runs of their own, to tie the game at two.
The Golden Griffins etched out one more run in the bottom of the second, before the Red Foxes battled back with four runs to take a 6-3 lead. Orefice led-off the inning with a solo homerun, his first of the season, while junior utility Jon Schwind (Hilton, N.Y.) and Pacione followed up with back-to-back singles. With one out in the inning, redshirt senior catcher Bryce Nugent (Binghamton, N.Y.) belted a three-run homer to cap Marist's inning.
After Canisius scored one run in the bottom of the third, the Red Foxes scored two more runs in the top of the fourth inning courtesy of a two-out, two-run double by Nugent, extending the Marist lead to 8-4. The Golden Griffins scored one run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Marist lead to just three.
The Red Foxes ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning, surrendering seven runs the Golden Griffins; three of them unearned. The seven runs put Canisius ahead 12-8, and went on to win game one by the same score.
Two other Marist hitters collected multi-hit games, as sophomore shortstop Zach Shank (Lititz, Pa.) went 4-for-5 and junior infielder/outfielder Eric Helmrich (Yonkers, N.Y.) went 3-for-5. Pacione finished the game 3-for-5, while Schwind and Nugent finished 2-for-5; Nugent with 5 RBI's.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the first inning went scoreless before the Marist offense erupted for seven runs in the top of the second. Shank reached on an error to lead off the inning and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. After a Nugent walk and an unsuccessful bunt attempt, freshman infielder Pat Welsh (Millersville, Pa.) drew a walk to load the bases. Freshman infielder Nick McQuail (Wantagh, N.Y.) reached on an infield single that scored Shank and Nugent, following a Canisius throwing error on the play. Orefice was hit by a pitch, Schwind reach on a fielder's choice and Pacione hit a ground-rule double scoring Orefice and advancing Schwind to third base. Shank polished off the big inning with a two-out, two-run single, and stole second base before the inning ended.
Canisius scored one run in the bottom-half of the second inning after a homerun by third baseman Drew Pettit, but Marist continued the offensive attack in the top of the third, scoring three more runs with two outs. After a two-out single by McQuail, Orefice followed up with an RBI double, scoring McQuail. Schwind singled and advanced to second on the throw to the plate, as Orefice scored on the play. Pacione capped the inning with an RBI single that score Schwind, and augmented the Marist lead to nine, before Canisius scored one run in the bottom of the inning to make the score 10-2.
Both teams shared zeroes in the fourth inning, but Marist scored twice more in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run double by Shank, increasing the lead to 12-2.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Orefice led off the top of the seventh inning with a solo homerun - his second of the day. Canisius was able to score once more in the bottom-half of the seventh, but the Marist lead was too large to surmount, as the Red Foxes picked up the 13-3 victory.
Redshirt junior starting pitcher Chad Gallagher (Southboro, Mass.) picked up the complete game win in game two, and improved his record to 5-0 on the season; Canisius starter Shane Davis took the loss, dropping his record to 2-3.
The Red Foxes will play the rubber match of the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for noon, but has been moved back two hours. The probable starters are Kyle Putnam (3-2, 6.14 ERA) for Marist and Chris Cox (0-4, 6.66 ERA) for Canisius.
