GREENVILLE, North Carolina - Despite leading until the bottom of the eighth inning, Marist baseball (4-7) was downed by #14 East Carolina (11-5) in the bottom of the 12th, 4-3. Alex Pansini held strong on the mound in the extra innings until the Pirates' Christian Smallwood hit an RBI-single to earn the walk-off victory.
 

SUMMARY

• Tyler Kapuscinski singled through left field to drive in Reece Armitage in the top of the first and put Marist ahead early on.
• East Carolina answered back in the fourth to tie up the score.
• Randy Taveras drove in Niko Amory, and then Kapuscinski sent home Anthony Lazar in the fifth to propel Marist to a 3-1 lead over the nationally-ranked squad.
• The Pirates homered in the sixth and then scored an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the contest at 3-3. 
• The Red Foxes were able to advance two runners to second base in the extra innings but were not able to bring them all the way home.
• Pansini took the mound in the eighth and dueled with two East Carolina pitchers over four innings, but eventually earned the loss.

KEY STATS

• Kapuscinski recorded three hits and two RBI in five at-bats to drive the Marist offense.
• Romanelli pitched a season-high 7.0 innings and held the nationally ranked East Carolina hitters to two runs while striking out four.
• The Red Foxes made four double plays to subdue the Pirates' scoring for nearly the entire game.
• Marist had 16 players in scoring positions compared to East Carolina with 13, but were only able to convert on two opportunities.

UP NEXT

The last game of the series takes place on Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m.