POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- The Marist baseball team dropped the finale of a three-game series to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe Canisius by a score of 8-3 on Sunday at McCann Baseball Field. With the win, the Golden Griffins took two in the three-game set.
Marist never led in the game. A two-run single by sophomore right fielder Pat Welsh (Millersville, Pa.) tied the score at three apiece in the fourth, but Canisius took the lead for good with one run in the seventh, and then added four in the ninth.
Canisius outhit Marist 11-5, drew six walks and took advantage of four errors by the Red Foxes leading to four unearned runs. The Golden Griffins opened the scoring with single runs in the second and third. The Red Foxes got on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly by sophomore left fielder Jake Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.) in the third, which brought in red-shirt junior designated hitter Ben Luderer (River Vale, N.J.). After Canisius scored once again in the fourth, Welsh's single tied the game in bottom half of the inning.
Senior closer Jake Rifkin (West Deptford, N.J.), who entered in the fifth to get the Red Foxes out of a bases-loaded jam, took the loss (2-3) as he went 3.2 innings. After Jose Torralba's sacrifice fly put Canisius ahead for good in the seventh, a bases-clearing double by Ronnie Bernick in the ninth broke the game open.
Mike Krische and Ryan Coppinger had two hits apiece for Canisius, which improved to 28-25 overall and 13-8 in the MAAC. Billy Martin tossed a complete game with just 97 pitches as he improved to 6-4. Martin retired the final 13 Red Foxes he faced.
Marist is now 10-10 in MAAC play with a three-game series at Fairfield remaining this week. The Red Foxes and Stags will play a single game on Thursday at noon, followed by a doubleheader on Friday at noon. Marist needs to win all three games to advance to the 2012 MAAC Baseball Championship, which will be held in Troy, N.Y., beginning on May 24.
The Red Foxes (24-23 overall) will be in action on Tuesday with their final non-conference game of the year, a contest at St. John's of the Big East. First pitch has been moved to a 6 p.m. start.
Prior to the game, Marist honored Luderer, Rifkin, and Chad Gallagher (Southboro, Mass.) in its Senior Day ceremony. The team also honored all the attending mothers of the players in conjunction with Mother's Day.
