HAMDEN, Connecticut – On the penultimate day of its regular season, Marist Baseball split a pair of road games at Quinnipiac, falling in Game 1 by a score of 5-1 and rebounding to take the second game 12-4.
 
With the results, the Red Foxes move into a tie with Canisius for fifth place in the MAAC standings with 16 wins. Marist is now 16-8 on the season. Quinnipiac moves to 6-20 on the year.
 

game one

Quinnipiac 5, Marist 1
W: Arthur Correira (3-0), L: Alex Pansini (1-4)

• Starting pitcher Alex Pansini fired a 1-2-3 first inning, capped with a strikeout.
• Quinnipiac struck first with Andre Marrero's solo home run to center field in the bottom of the second.
• The Red Foxes threatened with bases loaded in the top of the fourth, but a fielder's choice helped the Bobcats escape without any damage.
• Another solo blast, this time from Sam LaChance, boosted Quinnipiac's lead to 2-0 in the bottom half of the frame.
• In the fifth, Brian Hart drew a two-out walk on a full count, and cleanup hitter Brian Picone drilled an opposite-field double right-center to plater Hart, cutting Marist's deficit to 2-1.
• Quinnipiac responded with one out in the bottom portion of the stanza; a bunt single and an ensuing throwing error on a pickoff attempt put Derek Kasperzyk on second. He later scored on an RBI single from Colton Bender, then Marrero laced a two-run double to center. The Bobcats entered the sixth with a 5-1 advantage.
• Reece Armitage singled in the sixth, and Hoy walked to put runners on first and second for Marist with one away, but were turned aside.
• Pansini went the distance for the Red Foxes, tossing six innings and allowing five earned runs with two strikeouts.

 

game two

Marist 12, Quinnipiac 4
W: Ryan Cardona (1-2), L: Blake DeCarr (0-4)

• Neither side etched out a run in the first three innings. Quinnipiac had a runner reach third in the second, but starting pitcher Ryan Cardona coaxed a flyout to cease the threat.
• Cardona notched two strikeouts in the third inning.
• In the top of the fourth, Tyler Kapuscinski singled to center field and scampered to second on a fielding error. Picone brought him home on a ground-rule double down the right field line for the game's first run.
• Picone later came home on a wild pitch, staking Marist to a 2-0 lead midway through the fourth.
• The Bobcats threatened in the fifth, but catcher Gene Napolitano threw out Ian Ostberg stealing third to help keep Quinnipiac off the scoreboard.
• Marist unloaded a six-run sixth. After Picone's double and Robbie Armitage's hit by pitch, Rubayo smacked a three-run home run to right for a 5-0 Red Fox advantage.
• Colin Mackle, Dylan Hoy, and Napolitano each singled, and Tyler Kapuscinski scored them all on a three-run double. The relay throw came in early as Napolitano hustled down the line, but the senior slid underneath the tag to put Marist on top 8-0.
• In the top of the eighth, Kapuscinski was hit by a pitch, and Robbie Armitage walked. Rubayo came up, swung at the first pitch, and connected on his second three-run blast of the game as the Red Foxes took an 11-0 edge.
• Cardona pitched into the eighth inning, allowing just one hit with three strikeouts. The Bobcats scored twice after he departed with a pair of sacrifice flies.
• Hoy led off the ninth with a triple, his fourth hit of the game, that eventually went out of play to prevent him from scoring. He later touched home on Brian Hart's sacrifice fly to reclaim the double-digit lead to 12-2.
• Quinnipiac's Sebastian Mueller hit a two-run home run off Trevor Backman in the ninth, but the Red Fox reliever shut the door the rest of the way.

 

key stats

• Picone reached base three times in Game 1 on his double and two walks. In total, he reached base six times on the day.
• Rubayo has homered twice in a game three times this season, with two of those instances coming in the last three contests. The redshirt senior has seven home runs on the year after hitting two in his first four seasons combined.
• Kapuscinski has tallied an RBI in four of his last five games, with his three RBI in Game 2 a season-high. His four hits tied a career-high.
• Hoy's four hits in Game 2 were a career-high, and his fifth multi-hit game in his Marist tenure. He totaled five hits in the two affairs.
• The seven-plus innings were a career-high for Cardona, while his one hit allowed was a season-low. He has yet to allow more than two earned runs in a start this year.

 

up next

• Marist closes out the regular season and its series with Quinnipiac in a Saturday, May 15th doubleheader at McCann Field, starting at Noon.
• The Red Foxes will host Senior Day, honoring Reece and Robbie Armitage, Trevor Backman, Clayton Barnes, Nick Cantone, Gene Napolitano, Alex Pansini, James Rubino, Donnie Stone, Tyler Kapuscinski, Conor McNamara, Ben McNeill, Austin Phillips, Skyler Pichardo, Brian Picone, Matt Rubayo, and Will Van Beusekom.