The Canisius College baseball team split a pair of one-run games with Fairfield University at the Demske Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Griffins lost the first game 4-3 and then won the second game 7-6. Canisius is now 21-28 overall and 9-9 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Senior Sean Jamieson and junior Drew Pettit each had a team-high three hits on the day with Jamieson hitting a solo homer in each game, giving him 13 home runs on the season. Senior Brian Burton and sophomore Chris Gruarin reached base in four of their seven plate appearances, with Gruarin also recording two steals in the doubleheader.

The Golden Griffins took the early 1-0 lead as senior Will Chomicki led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle. After a sacrifice bunt from freshman Jose Torralba, a two-out, four-pitch walk to Burton put runners at first and second. Pettit followed with a ground-rule double to right-center to get Canisius on the board. The Griffs extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third on a solo homer from Jamieson to center.

Canisius scored its third run in the bottom of the fourth as senior Andrew Russo went the other way with a single to right. After Russo stole second, senior Nat Barone followed with a single through the left side to put runners at the corners. Freshman Ryan Coppinger then laid down a bunt to score Russo and put Canisius up 3-0.

The Griffs had a number of chances but weren't able to break the game open as they left nine runners on base in the game. They left the bases loaded in the fourth and left two runners in scoring position in the fifth as Fairfield starter Brett Shulick got infield pop outs to end each inning. In the sixth, Chomicki hit a chopper down the third-base line that hit off the top of the bag and resulted in a one-out double. Chomicki would be thrown out trying to steal third on a perfect throw from Fairfield catcher Chris Horning. In the seventh, Jamieson drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Burton, but was thrown out at third trying to advance on a wild pitch.

Fairfield (19-24, 10-10 MAAC) scored two runs without a hit in the top of the eighth as redshirt senior Shane Davis hit the first two batters to lead off the inning, and a sacrifice bunt advanced the two runners into scoring position. A wild pitch scored the first run and an RBI groundout from pinch-hitter Jack Giannini cut the Canisius lead to 3-2.

In the ninth, Ryan Furbeck drew a leadoff walk - the only walk of the day from Davis. After a sacrifice bunt, Tucker Nathans followed with a single up the middle. The ball went off the glove of Coppinger and went all the way to the fence, allowing Furbeck to score easy and Nathans to advance all the way to third base. Redshirt senior Chris Cox came in and a sacrifice fly from Carmine DeVito easily scored Nathans to gave Fairfield the 4-3 lead. Mark Bordonaro retired the Griffs in order in the bottom of the ninth to record the save.

Davis (4-6) took the loss, allowing three hits and four runs, three earned, in a season-high 8.1 innings while walking one and striking out seven. Brian Comiskey (2-1) earned the win for Fairfield, throwing two scoreless innings in relief of Shulick.

In game two, Canisius once again took the early lead as Jamieson jumped on the first pitch he saw and hit his second homer of the day to put Canisius up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. The Griffs manufactured a run in the second as Gruarin led off with a single, stole second on the next pitch, moved to third on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from freshman Shane Zimmer to take a 2-0 lead.

Canisius added four more runs in the bottom of the third as Jamieson legged out a one-out double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Pettit to center. After Burton singled through the left side, a walk to Torralba loaded the bases. Gruarin followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. Burton would score on a wild pitch and a single from Russo allowed Torralba to score from second and put Canisius ahead 6-0.

Fairfield got on the board in the fifth on a home run to center from Furbeck. Canisius scored what would prove to be a very important run in the bottom of the fifth as Gruarin led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

Fairfield scored three times in the sixth to make it 6-4 and then got a two-run homer from Ryan Plourde in the top of the seventh to make it 7-6. Sophomore Jordan Cave then got a fly out to right to end the game and pick up his first career save.

Freshman Garrett Cortright (2-4) picked up the win for the Griffs, allowing four runs on three hits, walking two and striking out two in 5.2 innings.

Canisius and Fairfield are scheduled to complete the three-game series on Sunday, with first pitch for the single, nine-inning game set for noon.

Notes: In between games, the Golden Griffins honored the six members in the class of 2011 - Barone, Burton, Chomicki, Jamieson, Josh Marshall and Russo... Jamieson's HR was the first for the senior since April 22, at Manhattan. He hit a home run in both games of a doubleheader for the second time this season (March 26 at Iona)... Canisius is now 15-2 in its last 17 home MAAC games in the month of May... The Griffs are 13-4 in their last 17 games against Fairfield... Davis now has two or fewer walks in 24 of his last 26 starts and gone at least six innings in 20 of those starts... The error by Coppinger was his first of the season... Cox extended his scoreless streak to 10.2 innings... Gruarin had two steals in a game for the first time this season.