POUGHKEEPSIE, New York - The Marist baseball team split a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader with the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday afternoon at McCann Field during Senior Day.
 
Marist won the first game 9-4.  Game two went back and forth, as both teams had their own rallies, but Marist fell short, losing game two 11-9. Because the two games were originally scheduled to take place in Hamden, CT, Marist served as the road team.
 
The Red Foxes finished the regular season with a record of 17-9, and have clinched a top-six spot in the 2021 MAAC Championships. Quinnipiac concludes their campaign at 7-21.
 

game one

Marist 9, Quinnipiac 4
W: Erubiel Candelario (4-1) L: Brandyn Garcia (1-5)

• With runners on second and third with no outs in the second inning, Ben McNeill bunted to the pitcher. Robbie Armitage hustled home to score the first run of the game. The next batter, Dylan Hoy, bunted as well, scoring Reece Armitage to make it 2-0 Red Foxes.  Tyler Kapuscinski added to the lead with an RBI single into left field for a 3-0 edge.
• Reece Armitage hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly deep into right field with one out in the third inning, scoring Brian Picone from third to make it 4-0 Marist.
• Quinnipiac's Evan Vulgamore got the Bobcats on the board as his sacrifice fly scored a run to cut the Marist lead down to 4-1.
• Brian Picone grounded into a 6-4-3 double play as Dylan Hoy crossed home to put the Red Foxes up 5-1 in the fourth inning. 
• With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning, Dylan Hoy popped an RBI sacrifice fly into deep right field to extend the Red Fox lead to five runs.
• Skyler Pichardo stepped on the mound in relief of Erubiel Candelario with two runners on and one out in the fifth inning.  Pichardo retired two consecutive batters to end the inning.
• Robbie Armitage slammed a ball off the wall in left field to drive in two runs for the Red Foxes in the sixth inning.  Brian Hart added another run with an RBI single two pitches later to make it 9-1 Marist.
• Quinnipiac tried to rally late, adding three runs with two outs in the seventh inning, but the Red Foxes prevailed 9-4.
• Candelario tossed 4.1 innings, not allowing an earned run while striking out three. Pichardo pitched 2.2 innings, with three punchouts.

game two

Quinnipiac 11, Marist 9
W: Kevin Seitter (1-0). L: Brian Yetter (0-1)

• Quinnipiac struck first in the second inning, as Derek Kasperzyk's single up the middle scored two runs to give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead.
• The Red Foxes tied the game in the second inning, with Matt Rubayo's RBI single into right field scoring Robbie Armitage. A balk by Quinnipiac starter Tate Copeland scored Brian Picone, giving the Red Foxes a 2-1 advantage.
• An RBI single by Quinnipiac's Matt DeRosa with one out in the fourth inning tied the game 2-2.
• With two outs in the fifth inning, Brian Hart slammed a two-run homer over the right-center field wall to retake the lead, this time at 4-2.
• A two-out, two-RBI double hit off the wall by Ian Ostberg tied the game 4-4 in the bottom half of the fifth inning. That opened the doors to a seven-run inning for the Bobcats, putting them on top 9-4.
• The Red Foxes cut the deficit down to 9-5 as Brian Picone grounded out to third base, scoring Dylan Hoy from third. 
• The Red Foxes began to rally with two outs in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Tyler Kapuscinski belted a ball off the wall in left-center field for a three-run double. Robbie Armitage tripled as the ball got by the center fielder and rolled to the fence, scoring Kapuscinski to tie the game 9-9. 
• Nick Cantone replaced Brian Yetter on the mound with no outs in the seventh inning.  Quinnipiac loaded the bases with two outs, leading to Colton Bender lining a ball into left field to score two, giving the lead back to the Bobcats 11-9.
• Red Fox starter Jack Keenan went 4.2 innings, striking out four.

key stats

• Candelario now shares the team lead with Zane Kmietek with four wins.
• Pichardo has six outings with at least three strikeouts in 2021.
• Hart went 3-for-3 in game one with one RBI. He recorded five hits on the day.
• Hoy and Robbie Armitage led the team with two RBIs each in game one. Hoy has a seven-game hitting streak.
• Robbie Armitage finished game two going 3-for-6 with a triple and one RBI. He now has seven games this year with two or more hits.
• Tyler Kapuscinski led the team with four RBI in both contests. He has seven RBI in his last three games.

up next

• The Red Foxes will await final seeding for the 2021 MAAC Baseball Tournament.
• As of writing, the Red Foxes are tied with Niagara, who is in fourth place, with 17 wins. Canisius, who follows behind with 16 wins, has two more games remaining at Monmouth.
• The quarterfinal round will begin on Friday, April 21.