Box Score LAWRENCEVILLE, New Jersey – The Marist baseball team completed a series sweep at Rider with a 4-1 triumph on Sunday.
Junior right-hander Sean Keenan (6-4) tossed a gem, with 10 strikeouts in eight innings. Keenan allowed just two hits and one run, and faced just one batter over the minimum. Junior Ryan Thomas struck out two in a hitless ninth for his 12th save.
Offensively, freshman designated hitter Frankie Gregoire homered twice and had three hits. Marist had 10 hits on the afternoon, as senior center fielder Graham McIntire, sophomore catcher Matt Iantosca, and senior third baseman John Brucker contributed two hits apiece.
Gregoire's opposite field homer in the first opened the scoring. The Red Foxes expanded their lead to 2-0 in the fifth, when a one-out single by Brucker brought home red-shirt junior right fielder Zachary Racusin. Another Gregoire opposite field homer, this one leading off the sixth, pushed Marist's lead to 3-0. The Red Foxes plated their final run in the seventh when Brucker laced a one-out triple and came home on a wild pitch.
Keenan retired the first 15 Broncs he faced. Rider scored its lone run on a one-out homer in the seventh by center fielder James Locklear.
Brett Kosciolek (3-2), who started and went the first 6.1 innings, took the loss for Rider.
Marist improved to 24-22 overall and 13-8 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. Rider is 16-32 overall and 8-13 in the MAAC.
The Red Foxes are now in a three-way tie for third place in the conference with Canisius and Siena. This trio has a two-game lead on Manhattan and Niagara, who are tied for sixth. The top six teams in final MAAC regular-season standings qualify for the conference championship. In its final regular-season series of the year, Marist will travel to Siena for a doubleheader on Thursday and a single game on Friday.
