ALBANY, New York – For the second consecutive day, the Marist baseball team split a non-conference doubleheader against the Albany Great Danes on Sunday at Albany's Varsity Field. The Great Danes won the first game 8-2 before the Red Foxes were victorious in Game 2 9-6.

With the results, Marist now stands at 19-17 (7-5 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) while Albany moves to 12-19 (3-9 America East).

In Game 1, sophomore Frankie Gregoire led the Red Foxes offensively with one hit, a home run, one run scored and two RBI, while freshman Patrick Lightner picked up two hits and one run scored. Junior Andrew Rouse and senior Tyler Kirkpatrick each finished with one hit.

On the mound, redshirt junior Scott Boches picked up his fourth loss of the season, throwing three and two third innings, while giving up seven runs (six earned) on nine hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Junior Spencer Bunting threw one third of an inning and gave up one run on one hit with three walks and one strikeout, freshman Will Van Beusekom made his second career appearance and pitched one and one third innings and gave up no runs on one hit and freshman Skyler Pichardo threw two thirds of an inning and gave up no runs on no hits with two strikeouts.

Game 2 saw Gregoire and redshirt sophomore Chris Tracz with one hit and two RBI each. Sophomore Anthony Lazar and redshirt senior Matt Pagano each picked up two hits, one run scored and one RBI, junior Andrew Rouse had two hits and two runs scored, Rouse finished with two hits and two runs scored and redshirt junior Greg Kocinski finished with one hit.

On the hill, freshman Connor McNamara picked up his third win of the year, throwing three innings and giving up three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Senior John Parisi pitched one third of an inning and gave up one run on two hits with one walk and one strikeout, freshman Austin Phillips pitched two and one third innings, while giving up two runs on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts and junior Tony Romanelli threw three and one third innings and gave up no runs on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts.

GAME 1:

For the third straight game the Great Danes opened the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Collin Powers singled to right with one out, Evan Harasta walked and Kevin Donati hit a two RBI double to left field, scoring both runners. Travis Collins followed with a two run home run and Albany was ahead 4-0.

One inning later, the Great Danes added another run when Powers reached on a fielder's choice. Harasta singled and Donati followed with an RBI single, scoring Powers and it was 5-0 in favor of the home team.

In the bottom of the fourth, Albany again added to its lead when Lagravinese led off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fly out. Donati ripped an RBI doubled to center that scored Lagravinese and Bunting replaced Boches on the mound. Collins reached on an error by the third baseman that advanced Donati to third and he scored during the next at bat on a passed ball to give the Great Danes the 7-0 advantage.

The Red Foxes got on the board in the top of the fifth when Lightner singled and Gregoire smashed the first pitch over the wall in right for a two run home run, trimming the deficit to 7-2.

However, for the second consecutive inning, Albany again scored in the bottom of the fifth when Stephen Loreng led off with a single to third and Nick Kondo and Lagravinese walked to load the bases. Vam Beusekom replaced Bunting and Powers hit an RBI sac fly to left field and it was 8-2 Great Danes.

Marist looked to rally in the sixth and seventh innings but were unable and Albany emerged victorious 8-2.

GAME 2:

For the first time in four games, the Red Foxes scored first in the top of the first inning. Rouse singled down the left field line with one out, Gregoire was hit by a pitch before both runs scored on an error by the first baseman during the next at bat to give Marist the early 2-0 lead.

Albany regained the lead in the bottom of the third inning when Marc Wangenstein led off with a walk, Lagravinese singled and Powers hit a two RBI double to center field. Two batters later, Donati singled to left, scoring Powers and the Great Danes were ahead 3-2.

The very next inning Marist took its second lead of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Kirkpatrick walked with one out and stole second during the next at bat. Pagano followed with an RBI single, stole second and advanced to third on a Lazar single through the left side. Tracz followed with a two RBI single through the left side and the Red Foxes were back ahead 5-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, Albany trimmed the deficit to 5-4 when Parisi replaced McNamara on the mound and Matt Codispoti led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. Two batters later, Loreng hit an RBI single to shortstop, scoring Codispoti.

In the top of the sixth, Marist added to its lead. Lightner was hit by a pitch with two outs, Rouse hit a ground rule double and Gregoire single to center, scoring both runners. Kocinski followed reaching on an error by the catcher that allowed Gregoire to score and the lead was 8-4.

The Great Danes answered in the bottom of the inning when Loreng walked with one out, and two batters later he stole second. Lagravinese followed with an RBI single. Romanelli came in to pitch and Powers doubled down the right field line, scoring Lagravinese and the deficit was trimmed to 8-6.

Three innings later, the Red Foxes pushed their lead to 9-6 when Kirkpatrick reached on a fielder's choice, Pagano singled and Kirkpatrick stole third and Pagano stole second during the next at bat. Lazar followd with an RBI single through the left side.

Albany looked to rally in the bottom of the ninth but were unable as Romanelli gave up a lead off walk but rallied to get the next batter to fly out to center and the third to ground into a game ending 6-4-3 double play.

Up next, Marist travels to Stony Brook, NY for a matchup against the Stony Brook Seawolves on Tuesday at 3:30 PM.