The
Canisius College baseball team scored at least three runs in four innings,
including three of the first five, and won its 2012 season opener 14-3 against
Youngstown State at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. on Friday afternoon.
Five
Canisius players had multiple hits on the day, with junior Chris Gruarin going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, three RBI, a
stolen base and a walk. Junior Brooklyn
Foster went 2-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run homer. Freshman Connor Panas was 3-for-6 while
sophomore Jose Torralba was 2-for-5
with a walk.
Canisius
jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning when Gruarin led off with a bunt
single and then stole second base. Sophomore Shane Zimmer drove home Gruarin for the first run of the season for
the Griffs. Foster followed with a two-run homer to left to put Canisius up by
3-0. Canisius added three more runs in the third, taking advantage of a one-out
error that allowed Graurin to reach. Torralba singled down the left-field line
to put runners at the corners. After Zimmer was hit by a pitch to load the
bases, Foster had a two-RBI single to score Torralba and Gruarin. Panas made the score 6-0 with an RBI double.
The
Griffs broke the game open in the fifth, scoring five runs and sending 10
batters to the plate. Four Griffs drove in runs in the inning, starting with an
RBI single from sophomore Ronnie Bernick.
Freshman Mike Krische followed with
an RBI single and senior Drew Pettit
had a two-RBI single later in the inning. Gruarin closed out the scoring with
an RBI single that made the score 11-0.
The
Griffs added three more runs in the ninth when Gruarin had a two-RBI triple, and
junior Christian Segar had an RBI
groundout.
Redshirt
junior Billy Martin (1-0) earned the
win by allowing three runs, all earned, on eight hits in 5.1 innings. Senior Tim Seil threw 3.2 scoreless innings of
relief to earn the save.
Canisius
continues play with two games at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. on
Saturday. The Golden Griffins face Marshall University at noon and then take on
Saint Joseph's at 3:30 p.m.
Notes: Canisius
opened its season at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. for the third
consecutive season...Canisius won its season opener for the fourth time in the
last five seasons... Canisius
evened the all-time series with Youngstown State at 7-7-1 and has won the last
three meetings with the Penguins... The Canisius starting lineup featured four
new players from the 2011 team and featured one senior, two juniors, four
sophomores and two freshmen in the lineup.
