Marist Claims 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship
MAAC Sports
No. 2 Marist College – 5 | No. 4 Iona College – 1
2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship – Game 10
Sal Maglie Stadium
Niagara Falls, NY
Score by Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Iona 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 8 1
Marist 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 X 5 8 1
No. 2 Marist College defeated No. 4 Iona College, 5-1, to claim the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Championship. The Red Foxes earned their sixth MAAC Baseball Championship in program history, the most amongst current MAAC member institutions.
Marist earned 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. The win marked the first MAAC Baseball Championship for the Red Foxes since 2009.
Red-shirt junior Scott Boches (6-5) earned the win. He tossed 8.2 innings, allowed one run, earned, on eight hits. He struck out a season-high 10 batters and walked three. The red-shirt junior was named to the All-Tournament team.
Junior Tony Romanelli earned the save, his ninth of the season. The junior entered the game in the top of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs. He threw four pitches to strikeout senior first baseman Matt Byrne to pick up his third save in as many changes during the MAAC Baseball Championship. Romanelli was named the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship MVP.
Marist's junior third baseman Andrew Rouse drove in the game's first run with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning and was an All-Tournament Team selection. Red-shirt freshman first baseman Tyler Kapuscinski went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored.
Red-shirt senior outfielder Matt Pagano went 1-4 with a double, a RBI, and one run scored. Pagano drove in Kapuscinski with a double in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Red Foxes a 4-0 lead. Pagano was tabbed to the All-Tournament Team.
Iona appeared in its third MAAC Baseball Championship final in program history and the first since 1997. The Gaels recorded four victories over the course of the championship, the most by a team in the tournament since Canisius College won a MAAC record five games. Iona played all five teams in the championship at least once.
Freshman starter Mario Ferraioli (3-2) took the loss. He pitched 1.1 innings, allowed three runs, earned, on five hits. He did not register a strikeout or walk in the outing. Freshman Jason Antalek tossed 6.2 innings of relief, allowed two runs, earned, on three hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Sophomore outfielder Joe DeMaio drove in the lone run for Iona with a double to leftfield in the top of the seventh inning. Byrne went 2-5 with a pair of singles and was selected to the All-Tournament Team. Junior designated hitter Lou Matarazzo went 2-4 with two singles in the game. The Gaels finished the 2017 season (25-26, 14-10 MAAC).
The 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship took place at Sal Maglie Stadium hosted by Canisius College and Niagara University from May 24-27. 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.
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All-Tournament Team
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Michael Ginther
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Canisius
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Gage Lanning
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Canisius
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Jack Gethings
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Fairfield
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John Signore
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Fairfield
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Matt Byrne
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Iona
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Jared Finkel
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Iona
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Bill Maier
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Iona
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Scott Boches
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Marist
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Frankie Gregoire
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Marist
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Matt Pagano
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Marist
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Andrew Rouse
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Marist
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MVP
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Tony Romanelli
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Marist
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