West
Virginia used a five-run eighth inning, highlighted by a two-out grand slam
from Justin McDavid, to rally past the Canisius College baseball team 8-5 on
Sunday afternoon in the series finale between the teams. Canisius falls to 5-13
on the season.
Three Golden Griffins had two-hit games, with sophomore Chris Gruarin recording two hits and two walks. Junior Drew Pettit was 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI while senior Sean Jamieson went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
The
Griffs took the lead by posting two runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Canisius got on the scoreboard when senior Brian
Burton led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then
scored after a West Virginia fielding error that allowed senior Andrew Russo to reach and get all the
way to third base. A fielder's choice from sophomore Kevin Whitehead scored Russo to give Canisius the 2-0 lead. West
Virginia scored a single run in the bottom of the inning while Canisius pushed
its lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth. Jamieson started the two-out rally with a double and after an
intentional walk to Burton, Pettit singled home Jamieson. Russo followed with a single to score Burton
and give Canisius the three-run lead.
The
Mountaineers added a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-2, and each
team scored once in the seventh as Jamieson homered to left-center for his
team-leading third homer of the season. The Mountaineers made the score 5-3 on
an RBI single from Dan DiBartolomeo in the bottom of the seventh.
Senior
Josh Marshall came into the game in
relief of starter redshirt sophomore Billy
Martin, who allowed three runs in his seven innings of work. Marshall got a
strikeout to start the inning but then gave up a single and hit by pitch before
sophomore Scott Whitehead (0-1) came
into the game. Whitehead then issued a walk to load the bases with one out. A
groundout to Burton made the score 5-4 with two outs in the inning. Freshman Jon Fitzsimmons came into the game and
issued a four-pitch walk to tie the game. McDavid then sent the 3-2 pitch
over the fence in right-center to give West Virginia the 8-5 lead.
Josh
Harglow (1-1) didn't allow a hit in the ninth to retire the Griffs and close
out the game.
Canisius
continues its Spring Break trip on Tuesday, with a single game at Morehead
State. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
