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Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Ethan Hennessy at Niagara
Joe Lehrman
4
Canisius CAN 3-6
7
Winner Niagara NIA 9-2
Canisius CAN
3-6
4
Final
7
Niagara NIA
9-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Canisius CAN 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 11 1
Niagara NIA 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 1 X 7 10 0

W: Reynolds, Liam (2-0) L: Lopinto, Joe (0-1) S: Cameron, Zach (5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Drops Non-conference Game to Niagara

Niagara held the Canisius bats in check and capitalized on fielding mistakes to propel themselves to victory, 7-4, Tuesday afternoon in non-conference collegiate baseball action from Bobo Field in Lewiston, N.Y.

The Purple Eagles improved their early season record to 9-2 overall while the Golden Griffins fell to 3-6 on the season.

Nick Groves led Niagara with a leadoff solo home run in the first inning and collected another RBI in the fourth on a sacrifice flyout. On the mound, starting pitcher Carter Fink held the Canisis batters to five hits and two runs over 4.0 innings, while stranding five runners on base. National save leader Zach Cameron earned another save for Niagara, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth.

Canisius was paced by Jackson Strong, who had three hits and scored a run, and swiped his ninth bag of the season. Carlin Dick also had a strong outing, going 3-for-3 and walking two times to reach base in all his plate appearances. He also tallied one of the three Canisius RBI in the ball game.

On the mound, Freshman Andrew Malec made the start for the Griffs, holding the game to a 2-2 tie after 3.0 innings pitched and allowing two hits. Freshman Joe Lopinto took the loss, allowing two runs and three hits over 2.0 innings of relief work.

The Griffs offense was held scoreless over the first two innings, and fell to a 1-0 deficit after Groves' leadoff homer. In the third, Howie Stuckey tied the ball game, reaching first on a single, stealing second and taking third on a balk call. Mike DeStefano brought him in with an RBI groundout.

Niagara took the lead in the latter half of the third, as Kelly Corl scored on a sac fly. Cole Sebastian responded in the next inning with a solo shot to tie the game back up at 2-2. Niagara tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the fourth to retake the lead.

In the sixth, two costly mistakes by the Canisius defense allowed two more runs to score, putting the Griffs into a 6-2 hole.

The Griffs got the two runs back in the seventh, with Strong scoring on a wild pitch and Dick adding an RBI single to score Trent Rumley, bringing the score to 6-4.

Niagara added another run in the eighth putting the Griffs in need of a ninth inning comeback. Canisius loaded the bases on Cameron but were unable to capitalize as the closer struck out two batters and ended the game with a 7-4 score.

Game Notes:
•Strong stole his ninth base of the season in the contest. He ranks tied for 13th in the nation in total steals and sixth in Division I with 1.00 steals per game. Going 3-for-5 he brought his average up to .429
•Dick and Rumley are tied for the team lead in RBI after today's contest, each having nine on the season
•Thomas Zwirecki continued to be productive at the plate, going 2-for-5 and hitting .368 on the season
•Malec made his first collegiate start on the mound for the Griffs
•Sebastian's home run marked the third of his career

Up Next: 
Canisius plays its first of two scheduled series against George Washington this weekend as it travels to Washington, D.C. for a three-game series that begins Friday with a 2:30 contest at Barcroft Park.
 
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