NEW ORLEANS ? Marist's Bryce Nugent and Ricky Pacione combined for two home runs and nine RBIs as the Red Foxes rolled past the University of New Orleans 12-7 on Friday afternoon at Maestri Field.
Nugent went 2-for-4 with five RBIs, while Pacione had two hits ? including a key three-run home run that broke the game open late ? as Marist (3-1) won for the third time in four outings.
Ryan Eden went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for UNO (3-3). The junior outfielder was a single shy of hitting for the cycle and led a UNO offense that had 11 hits.
Tyler Sanford went 2-for-2 with four runs scored, and freshman outfielder Rodarrick Jones had a pair of RBI singles.
But the Privateers struggled on the mound, as starter Cory Myers (0-1) was roughed up for six runs and six hits in four innings.
UNO, which dropped its third straight, used five pitchers overall.
“Our pitching struggled all day,” said UNO head coach Tom Walter. “Cory was a one-pitch pitcher today and that makes it tough, but we weren't able to pick him up.”
The pitchers did not get any help from the weather, as the wind was howling out to left field early.
Nugent took advantage in the second with a three-run home run over the left-field wall, though Eden answered with his own three-run shot in the bottom of the inning.
Nugent came back with a two-out, two-run single in the third to make it 5-3.
Marist held an 8-6 lead in the eighth inning when Pacione put it away with a three-run blast.
Eric Alessio (1-1) picked up the win in relief of starter Josh Rickards, who was ejected after the fourth inning for arguing. Alessio tossed 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits and three runs.
The two teams will continue the three-game series at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We're counting on guys like Ryan Eden and Nick Schwaner to produce for us right now,” Walter said. “But the key to our season is getting some better at-bats from the bottom of the order.”
