After
committing five errors that led to eight unearned runs in the first game, the
Canisius College baseball team rebounded with a four-run first inning in game
two and three-hit performance from senior Chris
Cox to split with Fairfield on Saturday. The Golden Griffins lost 12-11 and won 6-1 at Alumni Diamond.
The Golden Griffins are now 29-16 on the season and 12-2 in the Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference.
Junior
Steve McQuail led the Griffs with
six hits on the day, including two home runs in the second game and a total of
eight RBI. Senior Perry Silverman had
five hits and scored four runs. Senior Ian
Choy went 3-for-7 and reached base in five of nine plate appearances.
Canisius
slowly built a lead in the first game, scoring a single run in four of the
first five innings. McQuail had an RBI double in the first, Choy had an RBI
groundout in the third, junior Will
Chomicki had an RBI groundout in the fourth and Brian Burton had an RBI groundout in the fifth.
Fairfield
(17-22, 7-7 MAAC) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-3, but
the Griffs came right back with a two-run seventh. Junior Sean Jamieson led off with a single, moved to second on a throwing
error and scored on a double by McQuail. Burton followed with an RBI single to
let Canisius regain its three-run lead.
The
Canisius defense committed three errors in the seventh inning, leading to seven
of the eight runs to be unearned. Canisius starter Shane Davis (6-3) allowed 11 runs in the game, with just three runs
being earned. The big inning led to Fairfield holding an 11-6 lead after seven
innings.
The
Griffs came back with three in the eighth as Silverman's triple scored
Chomicki, who drew a leadoff walk. Silverman scored on an infield single from
Choy, who would eventually score on a wild pitch to make it 11-9.
The
Stags added what would prove to be an important insurance run in the eighth as
Canisius mounted one final rally in the ninth. Drew Pettit was hit by a pitch and Brad Medici reached on an error to put runners at first and second.
After two Canisius outs, Jamieson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Choy
singled to right field to score two runs, but Mark Bordonaro got McQuail to fly
out to end the game.
In
the second game, Canisius jumped out quickly, scoring four times in the first
inning. The first three Canisius batters reached base and McQuail hit a grand
slam to left to give Canisius the 4-0 lead. The junior would hit his second
home run in as many at-bats in the third, this one coming after a leadoff
single from Choy to give Canisius the 6-0 lead.
Six
runs would be more than enough for Cox, who didn't allow a hit until the
fourth. The senior allowed three hits, walked three and hit three batters while
striking out four to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Canisius
and Fairfield conclude the series on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 12
p.m. at Alumni Diamond
Game Notes: Canisius
has now won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the teams... Davis suffered just
his second career loss in MAAC play in 21 career starts, with both losses
coming via unearned runs... Canisius lost for the first time this season when
scoring 10 or more runs. It was the first MAAC loss when Canisius scored 10 or more runs since a 12-11, 10-inning loss against Marist on April 1, 2007... The five errors by Canisius matched a season high,
which also happened against Toledo on March 12... Cox has now allowed two or
fewer earned runs in his last four starts... McQuail had his third two-homer game
of the season. McQuail now has 57 RBI on the season, which ranks second in the
single-season record books. The junior is five off the record of 62 set by
Kevin Mahoney last season... Silverman scored a run in both games and now has
scored at least one run in 18 straight games. Silverman also has 58 runs scored,
which ranks third in the single-season record books.
