Poughkeepsie, N.Y.—The Niagara baseball team notched its sixth MAAC win of the season and improved to 18-7 overall this season with a 10-0 win over Marist on Saturday.
How it Happened
The Purple Eagles opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. With one out, Nick Monile singled but was erased on a fielder's choice as Kelly Corl reached base. Matt Ward came to the plate and doubled home Corl from first to give Niagara a 1-0 lead. The next batter was Rees Kozar and he blasted his third homer of the weekend as he hit a two-run home run to make it 3-0.
Niagara added to its lead in the top of the third as Eric Rataczak opened the inning with a solo homer to make it 4-0 Niagara. Following the solo homer, Vincent Mauro doubled and Gavin Schrader singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Monile stepped to the plate and singled to right field that brought home Mauro with the fifth Niagara run. After a pitching change and a strikeout, Ward drove in a pair of runs with a single to make it 7-0 Niagara. Later in the inning, Rataczak came to the plate with the bases load and two out, he drew a walk to move the Niagara lead to 8-0.
In the bottom of the third, the Red Foxes looked to get on the board as they had runners on first and second with one out. Noah Richardson came out of the bullpen and induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Neither team scored again until the top of the seventh. Brady Desjardins doubled with two outs to put a runner on for Rataczak. Rataczak came to the plate and blasted his second homer of the game to give Niagara a 10-0 lead.
Marist went down 1,2,3 in the bottom of the seventh and the game came to an end due to MAAC rules as Niagara led by 10 runs after seven innings in the final game of the series.
Niagara Notes
· Preston Prince started on the mound for Niagara as he went 2.1 innings while striking out one and inducing four groundouts.
· Richardson went 2.2 innings while allowing just one hit while striking out four batters. He picked up his second win of the season as he allowed just two batters over the minimum.
· Carter Fink pitched the final two innings for Niagara as he allowed just one hit while striking out four batters.
· Niagara scored 10 runs, it is the ninth time this season, that Niagara has scored 10+ runs, the Purple Eagles are 9-0 in those games this season.
· Niagara notched 13 hits, it is the 17th time this season that Niagara has tallied 10 or more hits. The Purple Eagles are 14-3 when having 10+ hits.
· Rataczak went 4-4 in the game with four RBI and a walk. It is his 13th multi hit game of the season and his first four hit game.
· Kozar had a home run in each of the three games against Marist.
· Four Purple Eagles are on a hitting streak longer than five games. Rataczak has hits in 15 straight games, Monile has at least a hit in 13 straight games, Mauro has hits in six straight games, while Kozar has a hit in five straight games.
· Rataczak has reached base in all 25 Niagara games this season.
· Against Marist, Niagara hit .333 as a team while blasting 10 homers and scoring 37 runs. Rataczak led the team with a .571 average while hitting three homers.
· The Niagara pitching staff allowed just seven earned runs in the three games against Marist while limiting the Red Foxes to a .258 batting average.
· It is the first time since 2000 that Niagara has opened MAAC play 6-0.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles play their final weekend non-conference series as they travel to East Lansing, Michigan to take on Michigan State. The series starts on Apr. 5 with first pitch scheduled for 6 PM.
Stay connected with Niagara Baseball on X(formally Twitter), Instagram and Facebook. Follow Niagara Athletics all year long on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and purpleeagles.com
