Baseball Sweeps Long Island and St. Bonaventure

Baseball 5/16/2008 4:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Baseball Clinches at Least a Share of MAAC Title

The Canisius College baseball team clinched at least a share of the 2008 MAAC regular-season title with a 7-4 victory over Niagara University at Sal Maglie Stadium on Friday afternoon. Canisius earns a regular-season title for the second time in program history.

The Golden Griffins finish the regular season with a 40-11 overall record and 19-5 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Canisius clinches the No. 1 seed in next week's MAAC Tournament due to its ownership of the tiebreaker with Manhattan College after winning two of the three games between the teams in the regular-season series. The Jaspers, who are also 18-5 in the MAAC, had their regular-season finale originally scheduled for Friday postponed until Saturday at 12 p.m.

Canisius jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when four consecutive Griffs reached base with one out. Branson Joseph and Kevin Mailloux each singled with one out and Kevin Mahoney walked to load the bases. Ryan Asis followed with a two-RBI single to score Joseph and Mailloux.

Niagara (22-28, 10-14) responded with three runs in the bottom of the second, getting four hits to start the inning. Frank Kurnik led off with a triple and scored on a double by Clint Elkins. A single by Chris Leendertse scored Kurnik to tie the game at 2-2, and a single by Steve Baldinelli put runners at first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt by Bobby Lenhard advanced the runners to second and third. Jonny Smith followed with an RBI groundout to give Niagara the lead.

Canisius tied the game in the top of the third when Donato led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Joseph. Mailloux would ground into a double play that scored Donato and made the score 3-3.

The Griffs would break it open with four runs in the fourth. Kevin Reimer and Brian Burton led off with singles to put runners at the corners. Ian Choy followed with an RBI double to right center to score Reimer and move Burton to third. Alec Cabello would then drop down a bunt, scoring Burton and moving Choy to third while reaching on a fielder's choice. After Cabello stole second, Donato grounded out to short for the first out of the inning.

A grounder by Joseph would retire Choy at the plate and put runners at the corners. Joseph would then steal second base and Mailloux would single home both runners to make the score 7-3.

Niagara would add a run in the sixth to get within three, but Canisius starter Mike Goemans would retire the next 10 batters after that run scored before Josh Sawatzky relieved the lefty with one out in the ninth. Goemans allowed four runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out three to improve to 7-1 on the season. Sawatzky would retire both batters he faced to close out the game.

Canisius will open the 2008 MAAC Tournament against fourth-seeded Rider. Game time between the Griffs and the Broncs is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, at Waterfront Park in Trenton, N.J.

Game Notes: Canisius also won a MAAC regular-season title in 1994, when the Griffs won the MAAC North Division with a 17-1 league record... The top five batters in the Canisius order went 10-for-23 with four runs scored and for RBIs on the day... Canisius has won five of the last six league games between the teams... Canisius finishes the MAAC schedule with an 11-1 road record... Canisius is now 26-5 in road games and 31-5 in games played away from home... The Griffs are one win away from tying the record for wins in a season by a MAAC team as Marist posted 41 victories during the 2002 season... Canisius has now won 15 of its last 17 series of three games or more... Canisius closes out the 2008 Battle of the Bridge Competition with 21 points while Niagara finishes the year with 13 points.

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Players Mentioned

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

#33 Brian Burton: 1B; 6' 1"; Freshman

#22 Alec Cabello: SS; 5' 10"; Junior

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

#19 Mike Goemans: P; 6' 4"; Sophomore

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

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

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

#28 Kevin Reimer: C; 6' 0"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#33 Brian Burton
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: 1B

#22 Alec Cabello
: 5' 10"; Junior
: SS

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

#19 Mike Goemans
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: P

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

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

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

#28 Kevin Reimer
: 6' 0"; Senior
: C

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