FISHKILL, New York – With a single to left field by sophomore Anthony Lazar that scored the winning run from third base, the Marist baseball team walked off with a 6-5 win over the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Wednesday afternoon at Dutchess Stadium.
With the win, the Red Foxes improve to 12-8 (2-1 MAAC) on the season while the loss drops the River Hawks to 10-9 (1-1 America East Conference).
Lazar finished the game going 3-for-7 with two runs batted in, while junior Andrew Rouse chipped in a 4-for-6 effort with a run scored and one RBI. Redshirt junior Greg Kocinski finished going 2-for-4 with an RBI, sophomore Frankie Gregoire chipped in a 2-for-4 effot with a run scored and redshirt senior Matt Pagano finished going 2-for-6 from the plate. Senior Tyler Kirkpatrick chipped in a 1-for-5 effort with a run scored, redshirt freshman Tyler Kapuscinski finished with a run scored and one RBI, junior Matt Iantosca finished with a hit and a run scored and freshman Patrick Lightner finished with a hit on the afternoon.
Senior John Parisi got the start and threw three innings, giving up two runs (zero earned) on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Freshman Austin Phillips pitched two innings giving up no runs on two hits and sophomore Brandon Bonomo threw one third of an inning and gave up three runs on two hits. Junior Tony Romanelli pitched one and two thirds innings and gave up no runs on no hits with three strikeouts, junior Mike Coss threw two innings and gave up no runs on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts and Ryan Thomas picked up his first win of the year, throwing three innings, giving up no runs on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts.
UMass Lowell got on the board first in the top of the second inning when Russ Olive led off with a double to center field and advanced to third on a ground out by the next batter. Nick Barry was hit by a pitch to set up men on first and third and Ben Prada reached on a fielder's choice, Olive scored on a throwing error by the pitcher to home plate and Barry advanced to third and Prada to second on the error as well. Chris Sharpe followed with a sacrifice foul out that scored Barry and the River Hawks were up 2-0.
Marist answered in the bottom of the inning when Rouse led off with a single to center and advanced to second on a wild pitch during the next at bat. Kocinski singled, scoring Rouse, but was thrown out trying to reach second on the play and it was 2-1 UMass Lowell.
The Red Foxes took the lead in the bottom of the third. Kirkpatrick walked with one out, Gregoire sinlged to center, advancing Kirkpatrick to third. Gregoire stole second during the next at bat and Kapuscinski grounded out, scoring Kirkpatrick to tie the game and advancing Gregoire to third. Rouse followed with his second consecutive hit, scoring Gregoire and it was 3-2 Marist.
For the third consecutive inning, Marist scored in the bottom of the fourth when following a River Hawk pitching change, Iantosca singled with one out and advanced to second on a ground out by the next batter. Lightner followed with a single that bounced off the pitcher toward the shortstop, advancing Iantosca to third and Lazar singled to third base, scoring Iantosca to make it 4-2 Red Foxes.
In the top of the sixth inning, UMass Lowell answered when following Bonomo replacing Phillips on the mound, John Polichetti singled with one out, Barry was hit by a pitch and Prada followed with a two RBI triple to right center to even the score. Romanelli replaced Bonomo and Sharpe hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Prada and it was 5-4 River Hawks.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the eight. A UMass Lowell pitching change was followed by a Kapuscinski walk and two batters later, Kocinski singled through the right side to set up men on first and third with one out. Tracz pinch hit for Iantosca and laid down a beautiful sac bunt that scored Kapuscinski and the game was even again 5-5.
Neither team was able to score in the ninth and the game headed to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, the River Hawks got a lead off single and a two out walk to set up men on first and second but Coss escaped the jam with a strike out.
In the bottom of the 11th, Pagano singled with one out and two batters later, Lazar singled to left field to put men on first and second with two outs. Kirkpatrick followed with a single up the middle that looked like it would score Pagano and win the game but Sharpe fired a missile from center that got Pagano in time on a close play at home to end the inning.
Clutch pitching by Thomas held UMass Lowell off the board and in the bottom of the 13th inning, Tracz led off with a walk and Pagano singled. Charlie Jerla pinch ran for Tracz at second and Lightner put down a great sac bunt to advance the runners to second and third with one out. Lazar came up to the plate and after working the count, found a pitch he liked and roped it into left field, scoring Jerla from second and the Red Foxes walked off with the 6-5 win.
Up next, Marist travels to Quinnipiac for their second MAAC series of the year. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 12 PM and a single game on Sunday (12 PM).
