CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Marist baseball team fought hard, but dropped game two of a three-game series to No. 1 Virginia 7-2 Saturday evening.

Senior captain Steve Laurino (Carle Place, N.Y.) had the best day at the plate for the Red Foxes with two hits and an RBI. Junior Matt Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) added two hits for Marist, and freshman Ryan Lynch (Portsmouth, R.I.) contributed a runner batted in.

Marist hung tough with No. 1 Virginia (6-0) holding the Cavaliers scoreless until the fourth inning. Virginia grabbed its first two runs of the game off a wild pitch and a fielding error by the Red Foxes. The game would remain scoreless until the seventh inning.

Down 2-0 in the seventh inning, Marist pulled within one run off an RBI by Lunch driving in sophomore Tyler Kirkpatrick (Eagleville, Pa.). The Cavaliers would answer with their most productive inning of the day scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 7-1.

The Red Foxes would score one more run in the top of the eighth off a single by Laurino to center field, allowing junior Joey Aiola (Suffern, N.Y.) to advance home for the final run of the game.

Starting pitcher senior Rich Vrana (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) pitched 6.1 innings in the loss for the Red Foxes. Vrana allowed five earned runs on seven hits, and struck out three batters. Sophomore Sean Keenan (Dayton, N.J.) came out of the bullpen to pitch 1.2 innings, striking out two hitters and giving up one hit.

Marist will play the final game of the series on Sunday, Feb. 22. The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.