The
Canisius College baseball team overcame leaving 12 runners on base and snapped
a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 win at the University of Maryland on
Friday afternoon. The win evens the Griffs' record at 4-4 on the season and is
the first win in program history over a team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
After
Maryland took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer from
Michael Montville, the Griffs cut the lead in half on an RBI groundout from
senior Brian Burton in the top of
the third. Maryland came back with a run in the bottom of the third to regain
the two-run lead. Canisius tied the game in the top of the fourth as Chris Gruarin led off with a single and
Drew Pettit was hit by a pitch.
After a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Russo
moved runners to second and third, the Griffs would get a two-out, two-RBI
single from freshman Ryan Coppinger
to even the game at 3-3.
Maryland
reclaimed the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Griffs used a
two-out rally to tie the game in the sixth. Will Chomicki walked, Coppinger singled him to second and Sean Jamieson had an RBI single to
score Chomicki and make the score 4-4.
The
Griffs scored the winning run in the top of the eighth as Chomicki led off with
a double and moved to third on a groundout from Coppinger. Jamieson then came
through with his second RBI single in as many at-bats to give Canisius the
game-winning run.
Shane Davis (1-1)
went seven innings to pick up his first win of the season. Davis allowed four
runs, all earned, and seven hits in seven innings pitched. Redshirt sophomore Billy Martin threw two shutout innings
to pick up his first career save.
Canisius
and Maryland play the middle game of the series on Saturday, with first pitch
scheduled for 1 p.m.
Game Notes:
Canisius played an ACC school for the third time, having lost previously to
Virginia and Virginia Tech... Martin has allowed one run in 6.1 innings of relief
this season... Davis improves to 31-7 in his career. The redshirt senior has
thrown at least six innings in 12 of his last 15 starts... Coppinger had three
hits on the day and now has seven hits in the last four games... Burton has
reached base in all seven games... Jamieson has two hits in four of the last five
games... Canisius improved to 3-0 in one-run games this season... The Griffs have
come-from-behind in three of their four wins this season.
