The Canisius College baseball team improved to 7-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a pair of wins over Marist on the road Saturday afternoon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The Golden Griffins overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first game en route to a 6-3 win in the opener before stopping the host Red Foxes 6-3 in the nightcap. Canisius is now 25-4 on the year, while Marist slips to 11-15 overall and 5-6 in league play with the losses.
Trailing 3-1 in the first game, Canisius sophomore Paul Panik (right) knotted the game at 3-3 with a two-run, two-out homer to left. In the eighth, Adam Donato got things going with a leadoff double to left field and scored moments later when Ian Choy singled to center for the go-ahead run. The Griffs added a pair of runs in the top of the ninth with an RBI-single off the bat of Branson Joseph and a sacrifice fly by junior Kevin Mailloux.
“I thought today was a good day for us because we fought and battled, especially in game one,” Canisius head coach Mike McRae said. “Paul Panik's home run was a huge momentum shift for us because we were somewhat lifeless to that point.”
Matt Weber and Ryan McGorman tossed three scoreless innings of relief to help lift Canisius to the game-one victory. Weber threw 2.1 innings of work and didn't allow a hit to earn his third win of the season before making way for McGorman, who picked up his team-leading fourth save of the season after getting the final two outs of the game.
“Matt Weber and Ryan McGorman gave us three quality innings out of the bullpen today,” McRae said. “They came in and held Marist scoreless when we needed them.”
Canisius took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when freshman Brian Burton singled to center to knock in Choy, who reached base earlier in the inning by drawing a one-out walk. The Red Foxes tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth and then took a 3-1 advantage in the fifth after Kenny Anderson singled to right to drive in two runs.
Panik finished the first game by going 3-for-4 with the homer and two RBIs while Donato added two hits and two runs scored in the game-one win. Connor Burke also added a hit and a run scored for the Griffs.
In the nightcap, freshman pitcher Shane Davis allowed three runs and scattered 10 hits over seven innings to improve to 7-0 on the year as the Blue and Gold dropped Marist 6-3 in a seven-inning contest. Davis struck out four and walked one in the win as his teammates racked up nine hits off Marist pitching.
Canisius got on the board early with a run in the first after Donato scored on an infield groundout. The Blue and Gold added a single run in the fourth and then scored three times in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead after five innings.
In the fifth, Choy drove in two runs with his first homer of the season, a two-run shot over the fence in left center. Junior Kevin Reimer drilled a one-out double to left moments later that knocked in Mailloux. Mailloux helped Canisius score its sixth run of the game in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly to right which plated Choy.
Choy went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, two runs scored and two RBIs in the game-two win, while teammate Kevin Mahoney also picked up two hits for the Griffs. Mailloux was 1-for-2 with a homer, his seventh of the year, two runs batted in and two runs scored.
Canisius and Marist will close out the weekend set Sunday, April 13, at McCann Field in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. First pitch is set for noon.
Game Notes: Canisius has now won 11 of its last 19 MAAC games, dating back to last season... Paul Panik's home run in the first game gives him a homer in back-to-back games for the first time in his college career... Kevin Mailloux now has an RBI in the last 10 games he's played in for Canisius... Connor Burke returned the Griffs' lineup and moved his hitting streak to eight straight with base hits in both contests... Canisius is 16-1 this season when holding teams to five or fewer runs... Mike Goemans (3-0, 4.61 ERA) will meet Marist's Sean McKeown (1-1, 2.37 ERA) in Sunday's nine-inning affair.
