FISHKILL - The Marist baseball team suffered a 4-2 loss to Army in the ninth annual WRWD Hudson Valley Baseball Classic on Wednesday night before 2,076 at Dutchess Stadium.
Sophomore second baseman Joey Aiola (Suffern, N.Y.) went 2-for-4. Junior right-hander Evan Davis (Little Falls, N.Y.) started and allowed just one run in four innings. Davis allowed four hits and no walks, and struck out one.
Army got on the scoreboard first with one run in the third. Marist took the lead with two in the fourth. Senior shortstop Nick McQuail (Wantagh, N.Y.) led off the inning with a triple, and scored on a one-out infield single by freshman designated hitter Tyler Kirkpatrick (Eagleville, Pa.), who would later score on a single by sophomore center fielder Graham McIntire (Concord, N.H.). However, despite having the bases loaded with one out, the Red Foxes did not score again in the inning. Marist did not record another hit until the ninth inning.
The Black Knights took the lead back with two runs in the seventh, and added an insurance run in the ninth.
For Army, center fielder Jacob Page went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Right fielder Jon Crucitti reached base safely four times, and was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Julian Larimer (2-2), the second of four Army pitchers, earned the win. Larimer did not allow a hit and struck out five in 2.2 innings. Brian Hapeman pitched the final two innings to record the save. For Marist, freshman right-hander Sean Keenan (Dayton, N.J.) took the loss and fell to 3-1. In three innings of relief, Keenan allowed just two hits and no walks, and struck out four. One of the two runs he allowed was unearned.
Army now leads the all-time Hudson Valley Baseball Classic series, 5-4. The Black Knights are now 28-12 this season. Marist fell to 12-25.
Marist returns to action this weekend, when the Red Foxes host Canisius in a three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at noon, followed by a single game on Sunday, also at noon.
