Baseball Drops Final Game of the Weekend

Baseball 4/29/2009 12:30:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Baseball Beats Niagara, Advances to Big Four Championship

Pounding out 18 hits on the day, the Canisius College baseball team defeated Niagara 13-7 at the Demske Sports Complex on Tuesday, in the first round of the 2009 Big Four Baseball Classic.

Canisius improves to 24-19 on the season and advances to Wednesday's championship game for the fourth time in the last five years. Canisius will play Buffalo at 6 p.m. at the Demske Sports Complex. Buffalo defeated St. Bonaventure 14-5 in the other first-round game on Tuesday.

Six Golden Griffins collected multiple hits on the day, led by a career-high four-hit effort from junior Perry Silverman, who also scored a team-high three runs on the day. Junior Ian Choy was 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBIs. Freshman Brad Medici had a career-high three hits in four at-bats.

Freshman Benson Merritt survived a four-run second inning and allowed five runs on six hits, walked four and struck out six in seven innings of work ? the longest start of his career. Merritt improved to 2-3 on the season, winning his second consecutive start.

Niagara scored four in the bottom of the second on just three hits. Matt Wietlispach forced in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Jason Cramer had a two-RBI single and Wynton Bernard had an RBI groundout to make it 4-0.

The Griffs responded with three runs in the top of the third ? the first of five consecutive innings where Canisius scored at least two runs. Steve McQuail had an RBI groundout, Choy had an RBI single and Kevin Mahoney had an RBI single to cut the Niagara lead to 4-3.

The Griffs then took advantage of five Niagara errors during the next two innings to build a 9-5 lead after five innings. Brian Burton reached on an error, Brian Gibbs walked and Silverman beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Medici followed with an RBI single and Choy had a two-RBI single to give Canisius a 6-4 lead.

After Niagara added a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Griffs added three runs in the fifth. Branson Joseph reached on an error and Burton singled to put runners at the corners. Gibbs scored Joseph on a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-5. After Burton moved to second on a wild pitch, Silverman singled him home for the eighth Canisius run. Silverman moved to second on an error but was thrown out at the plate after a single from Medici. McQuail followed with a single to score Medici and give Canisius the four-run lead.

The Griffs scored runs on a double steal and a wild pitch in the sixth. Choy made the score 13-5 with a two-RBI double in the seventh.

Game Notes: Canisius served as the visiting team in the game... Canisius has now won seven of the last nine games against Niagara... Canisius scored 10-plus runs for the 13th time this season... Silverman's previous career high was three hits, which happened six times... Choy's previous career high was four RBI, which last happened against Marist earlier this season... Choy also had three hits in a game for the 15th time in his career... Joseph had two hits for the third straight game and for the 10th time in 17 games in April... Mailloux had two hits for the fourth straight game... Medici never had more than one hit in a game this season prior to Tuesday's game... Silverman is 9-for-14 in the last three games, raising his average 45 points... Merritt finishes April with a 2-0 record in three starts to go along with a 3.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched... Canisius coach Mike McRae improves to 9-2 all-time in Big Four Classic games.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

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

#10 Brad Medici: C; 5' 10"; Freshman

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

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

#10 Brad Medici
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: C

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

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