Iona & Marist Advance in 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship
MAAC Sports
No. 4 Iona College – 5 | No. 6 Rider University – 2
2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship – Game Six
Sal Maglie Stadium
Niagara Falls, NY
Score by Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Rider 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 2
Iona 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 X 5 11 1
No. 4 Iona College defeated No. 6 Rider University, 5-2, in Game six of the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship. The win marks the second of the Championship for the Gaels and they advance to face No. 3 Canisius College tonight, May 26, at 6:00 p.m. on MAAC.TV.
Iona's junior starter Joe DeRosa (2-5) earned the win, his first since May 12 at Saint Peter's University. The junior tossed 7.0 innings, allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits. He struck out three and walked three in the 95-pitch effort. 2017 MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, junior Jared Finkel earned his 10th save of the season. Finkel tossed 2.0 innings of scoreless relief, surrendered one hit, struck out two, and walked none.
Senior first baseman Matt Byrne singled to leftfield in the bottom of the second inning to drive in the first run of the game for the Gaels. Iona put together a four-run bottom of the fourth inning that was capped by a two-run double by freshman leftfielder John Picone.
Picone and sophomore outfielder Fran Kinsey combined to go 4-9 with a double and two RBI from the one and two spots in the Gaels' order. Graduate catcher Alex Beckett went 3-4 with a run scored for Iona. Junior outfielder Jon Budesa went 1-4 with a RBI single for the Gaels in their four-run fourth inning.
Broncs' freshman starter Pete Soporowski (2-5) took the loss. He went 3.2 innings, allowed five runs, one earned, on seven hits. He struck out six and walked two. Soporowski's six strikeouts tied a career-high.
Rider's first baseman Tyler Kaiser drove in the game's first run with a RBI ground out to bring in freshman second baseman Kyle Johnson. The Broncs extended their lead to 2-0 in the second inning with a RBI single from sophomore shortstop Richie Tecco.
Johnson and Tecco accounted for five of the Broncs' six hits in the game. Johnson went 3-4 from the leadoff spot with a run scored and Tecco went 2-4 with a RBI.
With the loss, Rider has been eliminated from the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship. The Broncs finished the season (23-28-1, 12-12 MAAC).
No. 2 Marist College – 11 | No. 1 Fairfield University – 8
2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship – Game Seven
Sal Maglie Stadium
Niagara Falls, NY
Score by Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Marist 0 1 1 1 3 1 0 4 0 11 13 0
Fairfield 0 0 2 0 3 0 1 1 1 8 12 3
No. 2 Marist College defeated No. 1 Fairfield University, 11-8, to advance to the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship final. The Red Foxes play the winner of Game nine, tomorrow, May 27 at 12:00 p.m. on MAAC.TV.
Marist advances to the MAAC Baseball Championship final for the first time since 2009. The Red Foxes went on to claim the 2009 MAAC Baseball Championship, their fifth in program history.
Red-shirt senior outfielder Matt Pagano went 2-4 at the plate with a home run and two RBI. Pagano's homer was his first of the season and the first since his freshman campaign. He drove in the game's first run with a RBI single in the top of the second inning.
Junior third baseman Andrew Rouse went 2-2 with three RBI and two runs scored. Rouse drove in a run in the top of the third inning with a single to centerfield. He also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth and later brought in a run with a successful squeeze bunt in the top of the eighth inning.
Senior outfielder Tyler Kirkpatrick and sophomore shortstop Randy Taveras combined to go 4-9 with a double and three runs scored at the top of the order for Marist. The Red Foxes hit .381 (8-21) with runners on base and .308 (4-13) with runners in scoring position.
Marist improved to 14-2 on the season when they score eight or more runs. With the win, The Red Foxes earned their third victory over Fairfield this season (3-1).
2017 MAAC Pitcher of the Year, junior Charlie Jerla (9-1) was credited with the no-decision for Marist. He tossed 4.0 innings, allowed five runs, earned, on seven hits. Jerla struck out three and walked three in the 81-pitch effort.
Red Foxes' senior John Parisi (3-3) earned the win. He tossed 2.2 innings, allowed one run, earned, on two hits. He struck out one and walked one. Junior Tony Romanelli picked up the save, his eighth of the season. He tossed 0.2 innings and struck out both batters that he faced.
Stags' junior Gavin Wallace (8-5) took the loss. He pitched 5.0 innings, allowed six runs, three earned, on nine hits. Wallace struck out four and walked three in the 97-pitch effort.
Senior outfielder Troy Scocca and senior second baseman Mac Crispino combined to go 6-10 with a double and one RBI for Fairfield. Scocca and Crispino accounted for six of the Stags' 12 hits in the game.
Fairfield plays its next game in the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship tonight, May 26 with game-time to be determined.
The 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship takes place at Sal Maglie Stadium hosted by Canisius College and Niagara University from May 24-28.
The Championship is a double elimination style tournament. If the team coming out of the losers' bracket defeats the team in the winners' bracket, the if necessary game takes place on Saturday, May 27 at 3:30 p.m.
The winner of the 2017 MAAC Baseball Championship earns the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Baseball Selection Show is on Monday, May 29 on ESPN2 at 12:00 p.m.
For all information on the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship, visit maacsports.com/baseball and be sure to follow the action on social media by using #MAACBaseball and #LiveNF.
Tickets can be purchased for the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship by visiting maac.ticketleap.com.