Pitching Leads Baseball to Doubleheader Sweep at Bucknell

Baseball 4/30/2009 1:30:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Baseball Reclaims Cup, Wins Third Big Four Title in Last Four Years

Getting timely hitting and solid performances from four pitchers, the Canisius College baseball team won the 2009 Big Four Baseball Classic with a 6-2 win over Buffalo at the Demske Sports Complex on Wednesday evening.

The Golden Griffins win the Big Four championship for the third time in the last four seasons. Canisius improves to 25-19 on the season and has won nine of 12.

Senior Branson Joseph was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, four RBI, a triple and a home run on the day. Senior Kevin Mailloux was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a solo homer while junior Ian Choy was 2-for-4.

Senior Aaron Boag (2-0) earned the win for the Griffs. In his first start since April 9, 2007, the lefty went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out three.

Buffalo (17-26) struck for two runs in the first inning. The first three Buffalo players reached as an RBI single from Charlie Karstedt put runners at first and third and scored Adam Skonieczki. After Karstedt stole second to put runners at second and third with no outs, Boag got consecutive groundouts to third base without a run scoring. A single from Kevin McCall made it 2-0 but Boag struck out Brian Randazzo to end the rally.

Mailloux hit a solo homer to right in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1 and Joseph scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second to tie the game.

The Griffs struck for three runs in the third, all with two outs. Mailloux was hit by a pitch and a walk to Mahoney put runners at first and second. After the duo executed a double steal, Joseph homered to left to make the score 5-2. Canisius added a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI triple from Joseph, scoring Choy.

After facing seven batters in the first, Boag faced 13 batters, one over the minimum during the next four innings. Freshman Alek Brown retired all six batters he faced in two innings of relief. Senior Matt Weber and junior Shayne Willson allowed one single each in their innings of relief as Canisius pitching combined to shut out the Buffalo offense during the final eight innings and allowed four base runners during that span.

Canisius returns to conference play this weekend, with a three-game series at Siena. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is set for 12 p.m.

Game Notes: The three titles for Canisius are the most of any Big Four school in the six-year history of the event... Canisius also won the Cup in 2006 and 2007... Canisius coach Mike McRae improves to 10-2 all-time in Big Four Classic games and has won four of the six titles (also won a title with Niagara in 2004)... In three Big Four championship game appearances, Boag is 2-0 with a save, posting a 3.38 ERA in 16 innings pitched... Boag earned an eight-inning win as a freshman and three-inning save as a sophomore... Joseph ends April with 27 RBI in 18 games and leads the team with 43 on the season... Joseph has two hits in each of the last four games and is 13-for-27 during the last six games... Mailloux had two hits for the fifth consecutive game, giving him a team-leading 19 multi-hit games in 2009.

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Players Mentioned

#36 Aaron Boag: P; 5' 11"; Senior

#31 Alek Brown: P; 5' 10"; Freshman

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

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

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

#18 Matt Weber: P; 6' 1"; Senior

#9 Shayne Willson: OF; 6' 2"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#36 Aaron Boag
: 5' 11"; Senior
: P

#31 Alek Brown
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: P

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

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

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

#18 Matt Weber
: 6' 1"; Senior
: P

#9 Shayne Willson
: 6' 2"; Junior
: OF