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Baseball Canisius College Athletics

Niagara Takes Two From Canisius Baseball

The Niagara University Purple Eagles baseball team defeated Western New York rival Canisius College in a pair of games (8-6 and 7-6) Saturday afternoon. The Purple Eagles won both games in their final at bat, completing the sweep of the Griffs to close out the 2002 competition season.

The first game, a contest scheduled for seven innings, gave fans much more than they bargained for as the two teams would trade runs and need three extra innings before the contest was decided. The Golden Griffins tallied runs in the first, fourth, and sixth innings to take an early 4-2 lead.

The Purple Eagles mounted a comeback in the sixth when a Mark Bomar double started off what would prove to be a four-run sixth inning. Rookie sensation Vince Ircandia picked up one of his game-high three RBI's in the inning when he drove home Reed Eastley to tie the game at 4-4. Niagara wasn't finished as they scored to more in the innings to take a 6-4 lead.

The Golden Griffins showed their poise as they tied the game in the top of the seventh inning forcing the extra frames. Niagara failed to score in the bottom of the seventh, and neither team posted runs until the tenth inning. After retiring the Golden Griffins in the top of the tenth the Purple Eagles put the game out of reach when Ircandia blasted a Jeremy Dracup offering over the fence for a walk-off, two-run, home-run.

The home-run, Ircandia's third of the season, completed his bid to hit for the cycle. He picked up a triple in the first inning, a double in the third, a single and an RBI in the sixth and completed the cycle in the tenth with the game-winning home-run.
The Purple Eagles improved to 11-34 overall and 8-17 in the MAAC. The Golden Griffins fall to 4-37 overall, 3-23 in the MAAC.
The second game, a scheduled nine-inning affair proved to be just as close, and looked to be headed to extra innings, when Josh McCurdy doubled home Reed Eastley to enable Niagara to sweep the Golden Griffins and emerge victorious in the Purple Eagles' final at-bat.

Canisius would again take an early lead, as the Griffs tallied two runs in the top of the third inning when two Niagara errors enabled Canisius baserunners to score. The Golden Griffin lead would be short-lived as the Purple Eagles tied the game in the fourth inning and posted four runs in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead.

For the second straight game the Golden Griffins tied the game at 6-6 in the top half of the last inning, but the Purple Eagles refused to go to extra innings again. After Reed Eastley was hit by a pitch, Josh McCurdy hit a booming double to center field that enabled Eastley to score easily from first, and seal the Niagara victory, again in the Purple Eagles final at-bat.

The win improved the Purple Eagles to 12-24 overall and 9-17 in the MAAC while Canisius falls to 4-38 overall and 3-24 in the MAAC.
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Players Mentioned

Jeremy Dracup

#23 Jeremy Dracup

P
5' 10"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Dracup

#23 Jeremy Dracup

5' 10"
Junior
P