POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – As the Marist softball team readies for the start of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play this weekend, the Red Foxes have received a jolt of positive energy from freshman shortstop Caroline Baratta.
 
Through the first six weeks of the Red Foxes' season, Baratta has won three MAAC Rookie of the Week awards. She is currently hitting .360 with eight stolen bases and nine extra-base hits, and has proven to be one of the nation's toughest hitters to strike out, as she has gone down on strikes just five times in 111 official at-bats.
 
Baratta leads the Red Foxes with 11 multi-hit games, and has provided stability to the top of the Marist order and the shortstop position. She is the only Red Fox to have played in 32 of the team's games, and she has made 31 starts. In all 31, she has batted leadoff and played shortstop. Baratta has turned seven double plays this season, and has a .944 fielding percentage.
 
On Thursday, Baratta delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning of Marist's 2-1 victory over Army West Point in game one of a doubleheader.
 
Growing up, Baratta played a considerable amount of baseball. Her older brother, Alex, is red-shirt sophomore baseball player at Binghamton.
 
For more on Baratta, her background, and journey to Marist, please click on the attached video which also included comments from head coach Joe Ausanio.
 
About This Weekend
Marist (13-19 overall) will host Niagara (8-19 overall, 1-1 MAAC) on Saturday, and Canisius (3-22 overall, 0-0 MAAC) on Sunday. Saturday's doubleheader has been pushed back to a 1 p.m. start, while Sunday's will start at noon. Live stats for the entire weekend will be available here.