POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – After losing the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 13-6 vs the Monmouth Hawks, the Marist baseball team picked up a late inning 5-4 win in Game 2 to send the series to a deciding third game on Sunday.

The Red Foxes tied the game in the fifth inning and took the lead in the sixth en route to its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win of the season.

SUMMARY GAME 1:

The Hawks took the early lead in the top of the first inning with a single, sacrifice bunt and a walk. The following batter reached on an error by the third baseman to load the bases which was followed by and RBI ground out and RBI single to give Monmouth the 2-0 lead.

One inning later, the Hawks tacked on four more runs with a walk, sac bunt, walk, RBI single and three run home run to left field to take a 6-0 lead.

Marist answered in the bottom of the inning when redshirt junior Jordan Roper led off with a home run to center field. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Kapuscinski walked and three batters later, stole second. Freshman Nick Cantone walked and junior Anthony Lazar and senior Andrew Rouse followed with an RBI singles to bring the score to 6-3 Monmouth.

However, for the third consecutive inning, the Hawks scored with a walk, double, a two RBI single and an RBI single to extend the lead to 9-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Red Foxes got two runs back when redshirt senior Greg Kocinski led off with a single and advanced to second on a ground out. Roper walk and Kapuscinski followed with a two RBI double down the right field line to bring the score to 9-5 in favor of the visitors.

Monmouth answered in the top of the sixth with a walk, single and back-to-back RBI singles to bring the lead back to six runs at 11-5.

The Hawks scored runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings on a walk and RBI double and back-to-back singles, a wild pitch, a walk and an RBI sac fly to take a 13-5 lead.

Marist trimmed it to 13-6 in the bottom of the ninth when Kocinski singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch and two batters later, Kapuscinski laced an RBI single to right. However, Monmouth then got a double play on a lineout to end the game and secure the 13-6 win.

KEY STATS GAME 1:

• The Hawks scored 13 runs on 13 hits, while the Red Foxes scored 6 runs on 11 hits
• Marist committed 2 error to Monmouth's 0

SUMMARY GAME 2:

For the second straight game, the Hawk's scored first in the top of the first inning with a walk, a stolen base and a throwing error by the catcher that was followed with an RBI single for the 1-0 lead.

The Red Foxes answered in the bottom of the inning when Rouse walked, Kocinski walked and Rouse advanced to third on a wild pitch that was followed by an RBI sac fly by junior Frankie Gregoire to even the score at 1-1.

In the bottom of the second, junior Randy Taveras smacked a one out solo home run to left center that gave Marist the 2-1 lead.

Monmouth answered with two runs in the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles, an RBI single that blooped over the infield's head and an RBI sac bunt to take a 3-2 lead.

However, the Red Foxes evened the score in the bottom of the inning when Lazar led off with a hit by pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out. Two batters later, Kapuscinski knocked an RBI
single into left field to tie the game at 3-3.

One inning later, Marist took the lead. Redshirt junior Chris Tracz walked and sophomore Fletcher Szabo pinch ran for him. Taveras followed with a walk, Iantosca pinch hit for Cantone and walked to load the bases. After a Hawk's pitching change, Lazar smacked a two strike two RBI single to left field that scored Szabo and Taveras and it was 5-3 in favor of the home team.

Down to their last three outs in the top of the seventh, Monmouth got the tying runs on base with back-to-back one out walks but senior Mike Coss quickly slammed the door and picked up the save with a game ending double play to seal the 5-3 win.

KEY STATS

• The Red Foxes scored 5 runs on 3 hits, while the Hawks scored 3 runs on 6 hits
• Marist made 2 errors to Monmouth's 0

GAME NOTES:

• Lazar extended his hitting streak to 7 games with 2 hits in Game 1 and 1 hit in Game 2 and his 2 RBI in Game 2 tied a season high
• Rouse extended his hitting streak to 7 games with his 3 hits in Game 1
• Roper extended his hitting streak to 4 games in Game 1 and his home run was his 2^nd career and his 2^nd in his last 3 games
• Kapuscinski extended his hitting streak to 3 games with 2 hits in Game 1 and 1 hit in Game 2 and extended his RBI streak to 3 games with 3 in Game 1 and 1 in Game 2
• Taveras' two runs scored tied a season high and his home run was the first of 2018
• Cantone's one hit and one run scored in Game 1 was his third career game with at least one of each
• Freshman Trevor Backman pitched a career high 1.2 innings in Game 1
• Senior Charlie Jerla tied a season high with 6 innings pitched in Game 1 and set a season high with 8 strikeouts
• Coss picked up his second save of the season and his 7^th scoreless appearance of the year

UP NEXT:

The Red Foxes and Hawks will play the third and final game of the series at McCann Field on Sunday at 12 p.m.