POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist softball team opened Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a home doubleheader sweep of Fairfield on Saturday at Gartland Field. The Red Foxes prevailed by scores of 5-1 in game one, and 8-2 in the second contest.
 

Game One - Marist 5, Fairfield 1

• In the bottom of the first, senior Brandi Coon's two-out infield single brought home sophomore Caroline Baratta with the game's first run.
• Freshman Calista Phippen retired 11 straight Stags between the first and fourth innings. With two outs in the fourth, Fairfield tied the game as Mikayla Rubin doubled, and Lauryn Rhinehart followed with an RBI single.
• With one out in the fifth, Coon drew a four-pitch walk. Red-shirt junior Claire Oberdorf followed with a two-run homer over the wall in left field, which gave Marist the lead for good.
• Later in the inning, senior Madison Lee drew an eight-pitch walk, and freshman Morgan Gianelle followed with his first career home run.
• Phippen (9-1) pitched her eighth complete game of the season. She tossed a four-hitter with five strikeouts.
• Coon went 2-for-2 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI.
• The Red Foxes drew seven walks, led by Lee with three.

 

Game Two - Marist 8, Fairfield 2

• Fairfield started on a two-out rally in the second. Cynthia Meringer reached on a single, and Drew Westford followed with an RBI double.
• Westford's one-out homer in the fourth gave Fairfield a 2-0 lead.
• For the second straight game, Marist took the lead for good with a four-run fifth inning. Coon, Oberdorf, and sophomore Hunter Hand all had RBI singles in the inning.
• Marist added four runs in the sixth. The inning included a sacrifice fly by junior Ali Milam, a two-run single by Oberdorf, and an RBI single by freshman Kaley Coltrain.
• Senior Megan Beiermeister (3-3) earned the win with 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. She struck out three.
• Coon went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Oberdorf went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Hand and Baratta scored two runs apiece.

 

Stats & Notes

• Marist now has won four straight, its longest winning streak of the season. In this time, the Red Foxes have allowed five runs.
• This is Marist's first 2-0 MAAC start since 2016.
• On the day, Coon went 5-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Oberdorf drove in five runs, and Baratta scored three.
• Marist drew 12 walks in the doubleheader, and allowed six.

 

Tweet of the Day

Red Foxes got ??today! Marist scores four runs apiece in the fifth & sixth to take game two & sweep the doubleheader. #GoRedFoxes #maacsoftball pic.twitter.com/p1FttCbW3a

— Marist Softball (@MaristSoftball) March 30, 2019

Records

• Marist is 15-14 overall, and 2-0 in the MAAC.
• Fairfield is 12-12 overall, and 0-2 in the conference.

 

Up Next

• Marist returns to Gartland Field for a Sunday doubleheader against MAAC rival Iona.
• First pitch of game one has been pushed back to a 2:30 p.m. start.