LOUDONVILLE, New York – The Marist softball team split a doubleheader at MAAC rival Siena on Saturday. The Saints prevailed 5-3 in 11 innings in game, and the Red Foxes bounced back for an 8-5 triumph in game two.
In game one,
Calista Phippen struck out the 500
th batter of her career. She became the third player in program history to reach this milestone, and first in
Joe Ausanio's 15 years as head coach.
Game two had a lightning delay of 34 minutes in the bottom of the third inning.
For Marist,
Haley Ahr had 10 plate appearances and was retired just once. She went 4-for-5 with five walks and added a homer in game two.
- Marist loaded the bases with one out in the first but was unable to score.
- Siena scored a run on a throwing error in the bottom of the first for the game's first run.
- Ava Fitzmaurice and Emma Petersen homered in the bottom of the four, which extended Siena's lead to 3-0.
- In the fifth, Marist got on the board when Ahr's hard-hit single through the left side brought home Peyton Pusey and Sam Freeland, which cut the Red Foxes' deficit to 3-2.
- Marist had runners on first and second with two outs in the sixth, but the inning ended when Fitzmaurice made a diving catch in left field on a line drive from Pusey.
- Marist tied the score in the seventh. Freeland and Ahr began the inning with singles, and Maddie Pleasants' sacrifice fly brought home Freeland to even the score at three.
- Marist had the bases loaded in the top of the ninth but was unable to score.
- Jocelyn Ulrich hit a walk-off two-run homer in the 11th for Siena.
- Ahr led Marist by going 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Ahr reached safely in all six of her plate appearances, as she had three walks, a double, and a stolen base.
- Phippen pitched a career-high 10-plus innings and struck out nine.
- Marist left 13 runners on base, while Siena left seven.
- Pusey led off the game with a single, stole second, and scored on a single by Pleasants.
- A solo homer by Ulrich in the second tied the score at one.
- Haley Ahr's solo homer deep over the wall in left gave Marist a 2-1 lead in the third.
- In the bottom of the fourth, Shannon Bonewit's RBI single tied the game at two.
- Marist left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth but was unable to score.
- The Red Foxes scored three in the top of the sixth, but Siena matched it with three in the bottom half.
- Marist then scored three more in the top of the seventh. A sacrifice fly by Alyssa Grupp brought in Freeland. Shea Walsh's RBI double scored Ahr. Isabella Manory's squeeze bunt plated pinch-runner Kaitlyn Husic.
- Pusey led the Red Foxes with three hits.
- Kiley Myers went the distance for Marist in the circle and struck out four.
- Marist is now 18-21 overall and 6-2 in the MAAC.
- Siena is 25-11 overall and 6-2 in the MAAC.
- Marist returns home to Gartland Field to host a non-conference doubleheader against Seton Hall on Tuesday.
- First pitch of game one is set for 2 p.m.
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