BUFFALO, New York – The Marist University softball team clinched the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season championship for the third straight year on Friday.
The Red Foxes swept a doubleheader at Canisius on Friday, as they prevailed by scores of 8-2 in game one and 8-5 in game two. These results, combined with others around the conference, enabled Marist to wrap up the #1 seed and the right to host the conference championship at Gartland Field from May 6-9.
- Sienna Kunze's three-run homer staked Marist to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
- Canisius got one back in the bottom half on Grace Walker's RBI single.
- Samantha Rogers' sacrifice fly in the fourth brought home Haley Ahr, which gave Marist a 4-1 lead.
- Rogers added an RBI double in the fifth, which scored Isabella Manory.
- Ella Johel's inside-the-park home run cut Marist's lead to 5-2 in the sixth.
- Rogers' three-run homer in the top of the seventh closed out the scoring.
- Marist finished with 13 hits. Peyton Pusey led the way with three, followed by Ahr, Kunze, Manory, and Rogers with two apiece.
- Rogers went 2-for-3 with five RBIs.
- Kunze was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
- Ahr and Manory each had two hits and two runs scored.
- Ava Metzger threw a complete game, and needed just 69 pitches to get through her outing. Metzger scattered six hits, walked no one, and struck out four.
- Marist scored twice in the top of the first. Following a bunt single by Annabelle Geiser, Pusey scored on an error. Geiser then came home on a wild pitch.
- Talia Yermian's RBI single brought home Johel, and cut Canisius' deficit to 2-1 in the bottom half of the first.
- Marist responded with three in the top of the second. Lily Roumelis' infield single drove in Anna Sidlowski. Roumelis then scored on an error following a bunt single by Geiser. Ahr's double brought home Geiser.
- Canisius got one back in the third when Sofia Escoto's infield single scored Johel.
- In the fourth, Pusey's sacrifice fly brought in Sidlowski, which gave Marist a 6-2 lead.
- Canisius threatened in the fifth, by Ahr started a 6-4-3 double play to get the Red Foxes out of the inning unscathed.
- In the top of the seventh, Livia Wiltsie's two-run single extended Marist's lead to 8-2.
- Canisius scored three in the bottom of the seventh. The Golden Griffins had the potential winning run at the plate, but Anna Sidlowski came on in relief to get a game-ending groundout.
- Marist had 11 hits. Geiser went 3-for-4 with three runs scored.
- In addition to recording the game's final out, Sidlowski went 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and two runs scored.
- Ahr went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and an RBI.
- Stella Blanchard went the first 6.2 innings in the circle to record the victory. She struck out six.
- Marist has now won eight straight, its longest winning streak of the season, and 13 out of 14.
- Marist's top three hitters in both games – Pusey, Geiser, and Ahr – all had four hits on the day.
- Blanchard's win was her team-leading 11th of the season.
- Marist has now scored in the first inning in five straight games. The Red Foxes have scored a total of 13 runs in the first inning of these games.
- Marist improved to 28-19 overall and 20-3 in MAAC play.
- Canisius is now 13-25 this season and 8-14 in the MAAC.
- Marist and Canisius are scheduled to conclude their three-game series on Saturday with a single game.
- First pitch is set for noon.
