After
hitting into four double plays in the first game, the Canisius College baseball
team bounced back to earn a split in a doubleheader at St. Bonaventure on
Tuesday. The Golden Griffins dropped the first game 7-2 and won the second 7-6
to improve to 28-15 on the season.
Seniors
Ian Choy and Shayne Willson each had three hits on the day, with Choy recording
three RBI and reaching base in five of his seven plate appearances. Junior Josh Marshall allowed one run in four
innings of relief in the second game to improve to 4-0 on the season.
St. Bonaventure slowly built a lead, scoring
one run in the first and second innings and then scoring three runs in the
third. Canisius had at least two runners on base in each of the first three innings, hitting into a double play in each of those innings. The Griffs cut into the lead with a two-run fifth. Sophomore Brad Medici led off with a single and
senior Mike Deuschle walked to start
the inning. Junior Will Chomicki had
an RBI single while Choy had a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
The
Bonnies added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Redshirt
freshman Nathan Linseman (1-2) took
the loss for the Griffs, allowing five runs in 2.1 innings pitched. Freshman Jordan Cave allowed two runs and struck
out three in 3.2 innings of relief.
St.
Bonaventure (13-22) took the early lead by scoring in the bottom of the first
in the second game, but the Griffs responded with two in the third - getting an
RBI single from Willson and RBI groundout from senior Paul Panik. The Bonnies reclaimed the lead with a three-run bottom
of the third to take a 4-2 lead after three innings.
Canisius
took its first lead of the day with a four-run fourth inning. Redshirt freshman
Jarred Flock led off with a double
walks to Deuschle and senior Perry
Silverman loaded the bases. Junior Brian
Burton singled to left to score Flock and Choy followed with a two-RBI
single to give Canisius the lead. A sacrifice fly from Panik rounded out the
scoring and put Canisius ahead 6-4.
The
Bonnies came back with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Griffs added
an important insurance run in the sixth. Choy led off with a single and Willson
followed with a double down the left-field line to give Canisius its two-run
lead again.
The
Bonnies put together a rally in the seventh when Ryan Skellie doubled and Austin
Ingraham singled to put runners at the corners. Willson, who had come into the
game earlier in the inning, got a sacrifice fly and groundout to close out the
game and earn his fourth save of the season.
Canisius,
sitting at 11-1 and in first place in the MAAC standings, plays its first
conference road series in three weeks, when the Golden Griffins travel to
Fairfield this weekend. The three-game series starts with a doubleheader on
Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
Game Notes: The
four double plays by the Canisius offense in the first game were a new season
high... Choy's 11-game hitting streak came to an end in the first game of the
doubleheader... Willson now has four saves in each of his two seasons at Canisius...
The four innings pitched by Marshall are the most since the junior threw 4.2
innings at Dayton on March 20... Marshall also had a career-high five strikeouts
on the day... Canisius has now won three of the last five between the teams in
Olean... Deuschle started both games for the Griffs, giving him four starts on the season after appearing in six games total the last three years... Burton batted in the No. 2
spot in the lineup and Panik batted in the No. 5 spot in game two, each hitting
in that spot for the first time in his career.
