Baseball Sweeps Long Island and St. Bonaventure

Baseball 4/29/2008 4:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Niagara Defeats Baseball in Big Four Classic

Niagara University scored six of the final seven runs to defeat the Canisius College baseball team 9-6 in the first round of the Big Four Baseball Classic at the Demske Sports Complex Tuesday afternoon. The Golden Griffins lose in the first round for the first time since 2004.

Seniors Adam Donato and Ryan Asis each homered for the Griffs as Donato had two hits on the day. Junior Kevin Mahoney led the Griffs with three hits and two RBIs while junior Kevin Mailloux had two hits as well.

Canisius (31-10) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Donato led off with a homer. Ian Choy followed with a single, stole second and came around to score on a one-out double from Mahoney.

Niagara (18-21) responded with three runs in the top of the second. Frank Kurnik reached on an error to lead off the inning. Steve Baldinelli and Chris Leendertse followed with doubles to tie the game. Jonny Smith singled later in the inning to give the Purple Eagles the lead. Canisius tied the game in the bottom of the second when Asis led off the second with a homer.

The Griffs regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third. Mahoney and Branson Joseph singled to start the inning. Reimer then brought Mahoney home with an RBI groundout. Joseph would score later in the inning on a two-out RBI single from Connor Burke to make the score 5-3.

Niagara tied the game in the fifth on two solo homers. Tim Alberts led off the inning with a home run to center, and Baldinelli homered with one out to tie the game at 5-5.

Canisius retook the lead in the fifth when Mailloux led off with a single and scored on a double by Mahoney.

Niagara would take the lead for good in the seventh. Alberts led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Harrison Harber. Kurnik followed with a triple to center, scoring Harber. Baldinelli would score Kurnik with a groundout to the right side.

Niagara added single runs in the eighth and ninth, getting an RBI single from Harber in the eighth and an RBI single from Matt Lucchesi in the ninth.

Canisius loaded the bases in the seventh and ninth innings with two outs on each occasion, but failed to score any runs.

Josh Sawatzky started for the Griffs and went six innings. The senior allowed six hits, five runs, four earned and walked four. Freshman Josh Marshall (0-2) took the loss, allowing both runs in the seventh.

Canisius will play Buffalo in the consolation game of the Big Four Classic in Olean, N.Y. Wednesday First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Game Notes: Donato has homered in three of the last four games, hitting a leadoff homer on two of those occasions... After not hitting a home run in the team's first 39 games of the season, Asis has homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career... Canisius had the leadoff batter reach four times in the game ? in the first, second, third and fifth innings ? with the leadoff batter scoring in each of those innings... Canisius drops to 6-3 all-time in Big Four games... The loss for Canisius ended a three-game winning streak over Niagara... Canisius ends its home schedule with a 9-6 record.

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Players Mentioned

#7 Ryan Asis: IF/OF; 5' 7"; Senior

#5 Connor Burke: 1B/OF; 6' 0"; Junior

#17 Ian Choy: OF; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#11 Adam Donato: OF; 5' 9"; Senior

#2 Branson Joseph: OF; 5' 11"; Junior

#4 Kevin Mahoney: 3B; 6' 0"; Junior

#12 Kevin Mailloux: 2B; 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior

#30 Josh Marshall: P; 5' 9"; Freshman

#27 Josh Sawatzky: P; 6' 4"; Redshirt

Players Mentioned

#7 Ryan Asis
: 5' 7"; Senior
: IF/OF

#5 Connor Burke
: 6' 0"; Junior
: 1B/OF

#17 Ian Choy
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: OF

#11 Adam Donato
: 5' 9"; Senior
: OF

#2 Branson Joseph
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OF

#4 Kevin Mahoney
: 6' 0"; Junior
: 3B

#12 Kevin Mailloux
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior
: 2B

#30 Josh Marshall
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: P

#27 Josh Sawatzky
: 6' 4"; Redshirt
: P