POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist baseball team was defeated by Saint Peter's, 6-4, on Friday at McCann Field in the opener of a three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series.
Saint Peter's opened the scoring with solo home runs from first baseman Jason Midkiff and second baseman Rob Moore in the second and fourth innings, respectively. The Peacocks then advanced their lead to 5-0 in the sixth on an RBI single by third baseman Tommy Toole and a two-run single by shortstop Jon Kristoffersen.
Marist quickly fought back with a four-run sixth. Consecutive RBI groundouts by sophomore shortstop Andrew Rouse and senior center fielder Graham McIntire scored sophomore catcher Matt Iantosca and freshman second baseman Anthony Lazar, respectively. An infield error plated senior third baseman John Brucker, and senior first baseman Joey Aiola tripled on a fly ball to deep right-center, which brought home junior left fielder Tyler Kirkpatrick.
Saint Peter's added an insurance run in the ninth. With one out, a triple by Moore was followed by a double off the bat of designated hitter James Spadaccini. Marist had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play ended the game.
Saint Peter's starter John Leiter (3-6) earned the win. In 8.1 innings, Leiter gave up nine hits, did not walk anyone, and struck out four. He allowed one hit in the first five innings. Jake Regina, who induced the game-ending double play ball, earned his first save.
For Marist, junior right-hander Sean Keenan (5-4) took the loss. Keenan struck out four in 5.2 innings. Sophomore right-hander Spencer Bunting gave up one hit and one run in 2.2 innings of relief.
Iantosca, Lazar, and red-shirt junior right fielder Zachary Racusin each had two hits apiece for the Red Foxes.
Marist is now 18-20 overall and 9-7 in MAAC play. Saint Peter's is 7-31 and 2-11 in the conference. The teams will wrap up their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon. A seven-inning first game will precede a nine-inning second game.
