May 3, 2011
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Marist baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader at Brown on Tuesday. On a day when both games were scheduled for seven innings, the Red Foxes suffered a 3-1 loss in game one before rebounding for a 4-3 triumph in eight innings in game two.
Senior left fielder Ricky Pacione (Newburgh, N.Y.) went 3-for-3 and scored Marist's lone run in game one, and belted a solo homer in the second game. Red-shirt senior catcher Bryce Nugent (Binghamton, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 in game one and drove in the game-winning run in game two with an RBI double. Sophomore Dan Zlotnick (Katonah, N.Y.), who started game two on the mound before moving to the DH spot, went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
In game one, Brown scored single runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. The Red Foxes cut the deficit to one when an RBI single by sophomore shortstop Zach Shank (Lititz, Pa.) scored Pacione, but the Bears added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning.
Sophomore right-hander Chris Bielak (Sayreville, N.J.) started and took the loss for Marist and fell to 2-3. Bielak allowed four hits, two runs and no walks in five innings while striking out three. Sophomore right-hander Jake Rifkin (West Deptford, N.J.) allowed one hit and one run, which was unearned, in the sixth while striking out one.
Heath Mayo (3-1) pitched a complete game for Brown. Mayo permitted six hits and two walks while striking out four.
Marist opened the game two scoring in the third on a one-out RBI double by Zlotnick, which scored freshman Nick McQuail (Wantagh, N.Y.), who led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch. Pacione homered leading off the fourth to put the Red Foxes up 2-0.
Zlotnick retired the first 10 batters he faced, but then issued two walks and hit a batter to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Cody Slaughter cut Marist's lead to 2-1, and Josh Feit followed with a two-run double to give Brown a 3-2 advantage. That hit would be the only one Zlotnick surrendered in his four innings of work.
Marist tied the game in the top of the seventh, starting a rally after there were two outs and no one on base. Freshman Pat Welsh (Millersville, Pa.) doubled, and then was replaced by pinch-runner Jake Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.). Zlotnick then singled to second base, and Berry scored from second on an error to tie the game at three apiece.
With one out in the eighth, Shank was hit by a pitch. Nugent followed with a double down the left field line, which scored Shank from first to put Marist up 4-3.
Senior right-hander Kyle Putnam (New Windsor, N.Y.) pitched the final two innings to earn the win as he ran his record to 4-2. Putnam's effort followed two scoreless innings from freshman right-hander Kevin McCarthy (Malverne, N.Y.). Senior right-hander Andrew Bakowski (3-3) took the loss for Brown.
Marist improved to 30-14 as the game two victory enabled the Red Foxes to reach the 30-win plateau for the third straight season. The doubleheader ended Brown's season at 13-29.
Marist will host Stony Brook in a non-conference game on Wednesday. First pitch at McCann Baseball Field is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
