POUGHKEEPSIE, New York - The Marist baseball team swept the Rider Broncs in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon in Lawrenceville, NJ.
After trailing 2-0 early in game one, the Red Foxes exploded in the third inning, scoring six runs capped off by a three-run home run from
Brian Hart. The deficit was ultimately too much for the Broncs, as the Red Foxes went to win the game 8-5. Marist dominated game two, jumping out to a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning, and never led the Broncs back into the game at all. The team went on to win the game 10-3.
Marist 8, Rider 5
W: McNamara (1-0), L: K. Quijano (1-4), Save: Cantone (1)
- Rider struck first with two runs in the second inning coming from an RBI single by Lou Priolo, along with a run scoring on a double play.
- The Red Foxes offense got hot in the third inning starting with RBI singles from Ben McNeil and Tyler Kapuscinski. A three-run home run from Brian Hart slammed deep into right field gave Marist the lead. The third inning surge was capped off by a Gene Napolitano single to right field, scoring Niko Amory from third base to give the Red Foxes a 6-2 lead.
- Hart stayed hot in the fifth inning, belting a solo home run – his second of the game – into right field to give Marist a 7-2 lead.
- A sacrifice fly from Tyler Kapuscinski with one out in the sixth inning extended the Red Fox lead to 8-2 late in the game.
- An RBI single from Rider's Priolo cut the deficit down to 8-3 late in the sixth inning.
- Rider continued its attempted comeback in the seventh inning, scoring two runs which cut the lead down the three runs, but it wasn't enough as the Red Foxes took game one 8-5.
Marist 10, Rider 3
W: Kmietek (3-0), L: DelGuercio (0-1), Save: Cantone (1)
- The Red Foxes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in first inning as Hart's sacrifice fly drove in McNeil from third base. A wild pitch right after scored Robbie Armitage.
- Tyler Kapuscinski lined a ball into right field with one out, scoring Dylan Hoy and McNeil to give the Red Foxes a 4-0 in the second inning.
- A huge fourth inning added three more runs to Marist's lead. Niko Amory and Matt Rubayo both recorded RBI singles to center field. Napolitano's sacrifice fly to left field gave Marist a 7-0 advantage.
- Rider got on the board in the fifth inning when Jake Barbiere singled into left-center field, scoring one run. The Broncs added another run in the sixth inning off of a solo home run from Brian Skettini, cutting Marist's lead down to 7-2.
- Both teams traded a couple runs in the final frames of the game, highlighted by a 2 RBI single from Matt Rubayo, and Marist went on to win 10-3.
- Connor McNamara earned his first win of the season with a masterful performance in game one, finishing with five hits, four strikeouts, and no runs allowed over 6.0 innings.
- Nick Cantone earned his first save of the season in game one, striking out the only two batters he faced when he came into the game with one out in the seventh inning.
- Skyler Pichardo pitched a gem in game two, allowing four hits and no runs with five strikeouts over 4.0 innings pitched. Zane Kmietek allowed two runs and three hits over 2.1 innings in relief of Pichardo.
- Hart had a game-high four RBIs in game one.
- Robbie Armitage finished 3 for 6 in game two with a double
- Hart's two homer game was the first multi-homer game of his career. HE now has a career-high three homers this season.
- For the first time in his career, Gene Napolitano stole two bases in one game which came in the first game of the day.
- Kmietek's win was the third of the season for the right hander, which is a career-high for wins in a season.
- Nick Cantone now has a save in each of the last three years.
The Red Foxes will head to West Long Branch, New Jersey to take on the Monmouth Hawks in a four-game series that starts with a doubleheader on Saturday. The first pitch of game one will be at noon.
