STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Despite outhitting the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the second straight game, having four different players with multi-hit games and holding the Cowboys to just three hits over the final six innings, the Marist baseball team fell 3-2 on Sunday.
SUMMARY:
Oklahoma State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a leadoff double, RBI double and a solo home run to take the 2-0 lead.
The Red Foxes loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second inning on a single by redshirt senior
Greg Kocinski, a walk by senior
Matt Iantosca and a single by redshirt junior
Chris Tracz.
However, Marist was unable to score as the next three batters struck out to end the threat.
In the bottom of the second, the Cowboys added to their lead with back-to-back singles. Two batters later a walk loaded the bases which was followed by an RBI fielder's choice and it was 3-0 Cowboys.
Marist got on the board in the top of the fourth when sophomore
Matt Rubayo doubled to left field with one out. Two batters later, redshirt junior
Jordan Roper laced an RBI single to right field to trim the deficit to 3-1.
One inning later, the Red Foxes made it 3-2 Oklahoma State with back-to-back singles by Kocinski and Iantosca. Tracz followed with an RBI single to center that scored Kocinski and halfway through it was a one run game.
Down by one run, Marist loaded the bases with one out in both the top of the seventh and eighth but were unable to score.
KEY STATS:
- The Red Foxes outhit the Cowboys 10-8 in the game and 7-3 from the third inning on
- Marist left 16 runners on base, while Oklahoma State stranded 8
- The Red Foxes batted .167 (3-for-18) with runners in scoring position and the Cowboys batted .111 (1-for-9)
- Marist went a combined 0-for-9 with runners on third with less than two outs or the bases loaded, while Oklahoma State went 2-for-3
GAME NOTES:
- Roper's RBI in the fourth inning was his first career RBI and his two hits marked his first multi-hit game of his career
- Tracz's RBI in the fifth inning marked the second straight game with an RBI, the fourth time in his career he's had back-to-back games with at least one RBI and his two hits marked his second straight multi-hit game
- Junior Randy Taveras finished with two hits, his third straight multi-hit game, his fourth this season in just five games played and the 17th of his career in 51 games played total
- Rubayo's double was his third extra base hit this season out of four total hits in five games played
QUOTE:
"I'm proud of our effort this weekend" said head coach
Chris Tracz. "From dealing with the weather, to playing the defending Big 12 Champions, we showed we can compete. We went toe to toe with them for 18 Innings. We can focus on losing two games but we will choose to focus on the way we played, the way we competed and get work to bring the process full circle into winning games."
UP NEXT:
The Red Foxes travel to Greensboro, NC for a three game series at the University of North Carolina Greensboro Spartans on Friday (4 PM), Saturday (2 PM) and Sunday (1 PM).
