Baseball Loses at St. Bonaventure

The Canisius College baseball team allowed nine consecutive runs and lost 9-5 at St. Bonaventure on Tuesday. The Golden Griffins fall to 10-11 overall.

Canisius scored single runs in the second and third innings to take the early lead. Kevin Mahoney led off the second with a solo homer, his team-leading eighth homer of the season. In the third, Alec Cabello led off with a walk and Branson Joseph followed with a single to put runners at first and second. After a sacrifice bunt from Steve McQuail moved each runner 90 feet, Kevin Mailloux scored Cabello with a sacrifice fly to center to make the score 2-0.

Canisius starter Benson Merritt didn't allow a hit in his first four innings of work, but allowed four runs in the fifth. The Bonnies recorded three straight singles to start the inning and then scored a run on a fielder's choice, RBI double from Alex Calderon and sacrifice fly from Brandon Salerno to make the score 4-2.

St. Bonaventure (8-7) sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh. Merritt walked the leadoff batter and was relieved by Josh Marshall. The Bonnies took advantage of three Canisius walks and one hit batter, combining those base runners with three hits to build a 9-3 lead.

Canisius scored three runs in the ninth ? getting an RBI single from Brian Gibbs, RBI groundout from Ian Choy and an RBI groundout from Perry Silverman.

St. Bonaventure used seven pitchers in the game with Dennis Sherba (2-0) picking up the win by throwing three innings of relief, allowing one run.

Merritt (0-2) took the loss, allowing five runs, four earned, in six-plus innings of work while striking out eight. Ryan Fennell pitched a scoreless eighth inning of relief.

Canisius opens its home schedule on Wednesday, when the Golden Griffins take on Buffalo at the Demske Sports Complex. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

Game Notes: The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Canisius over St. Bonaventure... Choy is now 10-for-25 in his last seven games and has raised his batting average to .280... Mahoney reached base in three of his four plate appearances and has been hit by a pitch a team-leading 10 times this season... The eight strikeouts by Merritt are the most by a Canisius freshman since Michael Rees had eight strikeouts against Buffalo on March 24, 2004.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#26 Ryan Fennell: P; 6' 2"; Freshman

#25 Brian Gibbs: 1B; 6' 1"; Senior

#2 Branson Joseph: OF; 6' 0"; Senior

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

#12 Kevin Mailloux: 2B; 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior

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

#1 Steve McQuail: IF; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#27 Benson Merritt: P; 6' 1"; Freshman

#24 Perry Silverman: OF; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#26 Ryan Fennell
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: P

#25 Brian Gibbs
: 6' 1"; Senior
: 1B

#2 Branson Joseph
: 6' 0"; Senior
: OF

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

#12 Kevin Mailloux
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Senior
: 2B

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

#1 Steve McQuail
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: IF

#27 Benson Merritt
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: P

#24 Perry Silverman
: 5' 10"; Junior
: OF