POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Red Foxes dropped a non-conference matchup to the University of Hartford Hawks by a final score of 5-3 on Wednesday at McCann Field. With the loss, Marist stands at 14-14 (6-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) while the win lifts Hartford to 21-8 (5-4 America East).  

Co-captain Joey Aiola led the Red Foxes going 2-for-5 with an RBI and John Brucker went 2-for-4 on the afternoon. Tyler Kirkpatrick chipped in going 1-for-5 with an RBI and Frankie Gregoire went 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth of the season) and an RBI. Co-captain Graham McIntire and Matt Iantosca each picked up a hit in the game.

Tony Romanelli got the start, throwing four innings while giving up two runs on six hits to go along with one walk. Michael Hunter pitched two innings, giving up two runs on two hits with three strikeouts, Kevin Stewart threw one inning, giving up one hit, Mike Coss pitched two thirds of an inning and gave up one run on one hit and Ryan Thomas threw one and a third innings, giving up no runs on one hit.

TJ Ward led the Hawks, going 3-for-4 with four runs scored.

Hartford got on the board first, in the top of the second inning when TJ Ward singled to lead off. Chris Sullivan walked and Ashton Bardzell singled to the pitcher to load the bases with no outs. Billy Walker followed with an RBI groundout to the second baseman and the Hawks were up 1-0. Romanelli bore down and got out of the jam, allowing the next batter to walk before getting an inning ending double play.

The Red Foxes answered back in the bottom of the third. McIntire led off with a hit by pitch and Kirkpatrick reached on a fielder's choice with McIntire out at second. Kirkpatrick advanced to second on a wild pitch during the next at bat before Aiola singled to right field, scoring Kirkpatrick and the score was tied 1-1.

In the top of the fourth, the Hawks regained the lead when TJ Ward singled up the middle and Sullivan advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Bardzell walked, and Walker doubled to center field, scoring Ward and the score was 2-1 in favor of the visitors.Again Romanelli got out of the jam, this time getting the next to batters to fly out and ground out. 

Marist answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Brucker led off with a single to left and advanced to second on a ground out to the pitcher. Brucker advanced to third on a sacrifice fly and then scored when Kirkpatrick ripped a single up the middle to make it 2-2.

Two innings later in the top of the sixth, Ward singled to center and Sullivan followed with a two run homer to right field off Hunter and Hartford was on top again, 4-2.

Coss entered the game in the top of the eighth and got Ward to strike out but the ball got away, allowing the runner to reach. Sullivan advanced Ward to second on a sacrifice bunt and Bardzell followed with a triple to right center and the Hawks led 5-2.

Gregoire led off the bottom of the inning and worked the count to 2-0 before ripping an absolute missile that cleared the center field wall for his fourth homer of the year and trimming the score to 5-3. Two batters later, Brucker got his second hit of the game, a single through the right side. Andrew Rouse came up to bat and after taking two balls, got a pitch he liked and smacked a high drive to left field that just hooked foul at the last second, denying the game tying home run.

The Red Foxes came to bat in the bottom of the ninth with the heart of their order due up but were unable to get any hits as they went 1-2-3 and Hartford emerged with the 5-3 win.

Up next, Marist will face off against Manhattan in a MAAC double header on Saturday with first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for 12 PM. Game 2 will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. The two teams will then wrap up the three game series with a single game on Sunday at 12 PM.