LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - After five-plus hours and 18 innings of doubleheader action two teams, who came into the day with identical 3-1 MAAC records, left Young Field on the campus of Rider University with identical 4-2 conference records. On the strength of stellar pitching in the circle by junior Emily Osterhaus (Suwanee, Ga.) and an 11th inning home run by sophomore Haley Birnbaum (Lido Beach, N.Y.), Marist earned a 2-0 game one win over Rider. The host Broncs earned the victory in a game two slugfest by a score of 10-7.
For the doubleheader, senior Ashley Corriss (Sayville, N.Y.) led a group of five Red Foxes with multiple hits as she went three for eight. Fellow senior Nicole DiVirgilio (Aston, Pa.) (3-9), junior Danielle Koltz (Chenango Bridge, N.Y.) (3-9), freshman Taylor Kuzma (Freehold, N.J.) (2-3) and Birnbaum (2-8) also had multi-hit days. In the circle, Marist's four pitchers combined for a 1.65 ERA and were led by Osterhaus, who threw 11 shutout innings and struck out five batters.
GAME 1, MARIST 2 - RIDER 0 (11): The doubleheader opened with a pitcher's duel as Osterhaus faced off with Rachel Matreale and combined to throw 10 scoreless innings. Marist's offense wasn't completely silent as they had runners on base in eight of first 10 frames; unfortunately the majority of their action on the basepaths occurred with two outs.
Finally in the 11th inning following a drawn walk by sophomore Aly Klemmer (Hamilton, N.J.), Birnbaum launched a deep, no doubt home run out beyond the left field wall for the first and only runs of the game.
Osterhaus, who had contained Rider throughout the game, shut down the Broncs in order in the bottom of the 11th to earn her sixth win of the season.
GAME 2, RIDER 10 - MARIST 7: After being held without a run in Game One, the Broncs came out and immediately put the Red Foxes in a deficit as the hosts pushed five runs across in the bottom of the first.
After an inning to re-group themselves, the Red Foxes carved three runs off their deficit with a trio of runs in the top of the third inning. With two outs, a combination of singles by Kuzma and Corriss and a hit by pitch by Megan Lamoureux (Woonsocket, R.I.) loaded the bases for Koltz. The Red Foxes' RBI leader came through in the clutch and singled to right field, where the hit and two concurrent errors allowed the bases to clear.
Rider scored twice in the bottom of the third, but then the Red Foxes tied the game with four runs in the top of the fourth, all of which came with two outs. An infield single by Kuzma made the score 7-4. After a walk to Corriss loaded the bases, a two-run single by Lamoreux cut Marist's deficit to 7-6. Koltz followed with an RBI single to tie the game.
However, Rider answered with three runs in the fifth to provide the game's final margin.
Matreale pitched the final four innings out of the bullpen to earn the win. Freshman Melanie White (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), who also pitched four innings of relief, took the loss for Marist.
Marist (20-19 overall) will be back in action on Friday as the Red Foxes travel to La Salle for a non-conference doubleheader. The first pitch of game one is slated for 3 p.m.
