Box Score FISHKILL, New York – The sixth-seeded Marist baseball team suffered a 7-3 loss to third-seeded Quinnipiac in its opening game at the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Baseball Championships on Wednesday at Dutchess Stadium.
Junior designated hitter Matt Pagano was the lone Red Fox to have a multi-hit game, as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. Red-shirt sophomore right fielder Zachary Racusin scored two runs.
Marist opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first. A one-out ground-rule double by Pagano down the left field line brought in Racusin, and sophomore left fielder Tyler Kirkpatrick followed with a sacrifice fly, which plated junior center fielder Graham McIntire. However, the Bobcats tied the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Marist took back the lead in the fifth when a one-out RBI single by senior first baseman Steve Laurino brought home Racusin. The Bobcats responded by scoring three times in their half of the fifth, which gave them the lead for good. Quinnipiac then added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.
Quinnipiac first baseman Vincent Guglietti and catcher Louis Iannotti drove in three runs apiece. Second baseman Scott Donaghue scored three runs. Iannotti had a two-run single in the first to tie the game, and Guglietti's two-run triple in the fifth gave the Bobcats the lead for good.
Thomas Jankins (6-5) pitched a complete game for Quinnipiac. He scattered eight hits, walked three and struck out four. Senior right-hander Evan Davis (4-8) took the loss for Marist. Davis went the first six innings and struck out four. Junior right-hander Erik Bauer pitched 1.2 innings of relief, and freshman left-hander Mike Coss recorded the final out in the eighth.
Marist will return to action on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. against fifth-seeded Monmouth. If the Red Foxes win, they will play again at 7 p.m. against the loser of Thursday's noon game between Quinnipiac and second-seeded Canisius. A loss will end Marist's season.
