The
Canisius College baseball team lost both games of Friday's split doubleheader
at Manhattan. The Golden Griffins lost 4-3 in the opener and 1-0 in the second
game, falling to 17-20 overall and 6-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference.
Six
of the seven runs in the first game were scored in the first inning. Canisius
took the quick 2-0 lead as sophomore Chris
Gruarin singled to shortstop and senior Sean Jamieson followed with a two-run home run, his 11th
homer of the year, to give Canisius the two-run lead. Manhattan came right
back and took adavantage of three first-inning walks from Canisius starter Billy Martin to take a 4-2 lead. After
two walks to start the game, Chad Salem followed with a single to left to score
Mark Onorati. A one-out walk to Austin Sheffield loaded the bases. Ramon Ortega
had a sacrifice fly and a two-out, two-RBI double from Anthony Vega gave
Manhattan its own two-run lead.
Canisius
got a leadoff single from junior Drew
Pettit in the fourth and sophomore Kevin
Whitehead was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out, but the
Griffs couldn't cash in, stranding both runners. The Griffs took advantage of a
Manhattan error to lead off the eighth as Jamieson reached and went to third on
a single from senior Brian Burton.
Pettit followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3, and an error on the play allowed Burton
to reach second with one out. However, the Griffs couldn't get the cash in
again, stranding Burton.
Manhattan
starter John Soldinger (7-1) went the distance, allowing three runs, two
earned, on five hits while striking out seven for his fifth complete game of
the season. Martin (4-2) took the loss as he allowed four runs on five hits,
walked five and struck out two. Redshirt sophomore Nathan Linseman and junior Ryan
Fennell threw 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
In
the second game, Sheffield's one-out home run in the sixth inning proved to be
enough for Manhattan (22-12, 14-0 MAAC). Canisius got a leadoff walk in the
first to freshman Jose Torralba, who
moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Gruarin and stole third with one out. After a one-out walk to Jamieson, Burton hit into a double play to end
the first-inning rally. Jamieson led off with fourth win a single and Pettit had a one-out
single to put runners at first and second, but the Griffs couldn't get the
timely hit.
Redshirt
senior Shane Davis (3-4) took the
loss, allowing just the one run on five hits, walking one and striking out four in
six innings. Eric Luksis threw the second complete game of the day for
Manhattan, going all seven innings and allowing four hits, walking four and
striking out seven to record the shutout.
Canisius
and Manhattan conclude the three-game series on Saturday, with first pitch
scheduled for noon.
