The
Canisius College baseball team dropped a pair of one-run games in the last
at-bat to Long Island University in two neutral-site games at the USA Baseball
Complex in Cary, N.C. on Sunday afternoon. The Blackbirds defeated the Golden
Griffins by the score of 2-1 in each game as Canisius falls to 6-5 on the
season.
Game 1 -
Long Island 2, Canisius 1
Neither team could score in the first five
innings on a windy day in North Carolina. Long Island took the lead in the
sixth, but Canisius would come back in the bottom of the sixth as junior Brooklyn Foster drew a two-out walk and
scored on an RBI double from senior Drew
Pettit. The Blackbirds came back with three straight singles in the top of
the seventh to take the lead and score what would prove to be the game-winning
run. Canisius had a chance in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Ronnie Bernick was hit by a pitch.
Pinch runner Manny Hernandez moved
to second on a passed ball and to third on a groundout from sophomore Jose Torralba. After a two-out walk to
sophomore Shane Zimmer, junior Chris Gruarin struck out to end the
game.
Freshman Eric
Stolzenburg (0-1) took the loss, allowing one hit and one run in the seventh.
Freshman Devon Stewart allowed one
run on eight hits and struck out five in the start.
Game
2 - Long Island 2, Canisius 1
Canisius took a 1-0 lead in the top of the
second when Gruarin led off with a single, moved to second on a failed pickoff
attempt and scored on an RBI double from sophomore Jesse Kelso. Freshman Mike
Booth followed with a two-out single but Kelso was thrown out at the plate
to end the inning.
After Long Island scored an unearned run in the
bottom of the fourth, the Griffs put runners into scoring position in the fifth
and seventh innings but couldn't cash in. Torralba drew a one-out walk in the
fifth, moved to second on a groundout, stole third but was stranded there as
Pettit grounded out to end the inning. In the seventh, Booth led off with a
walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Griffs couldn't cash in as
Torralba and junior Christian Segar
grounded out to end the inning.
Long Island scored the winning run in the
bottom of the seventh without recording a hit. After two one-out walks issued
by senior Ryan Fennell, each runner
advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch from junior Jason Rubenstein. The Blackbirds won the game on a walk-off, one-out sacrifice fly
from Mike Garcia.
Fennell (0-1) took the loss by allowing one run
while walking three and striking out two. Freshman Rohn Pierce started and allowed one hit and one unearned run while
striking out five.
Canisius
is scheduled to return to the field on Friday, for the start of its Spring
Break trip. The Golden Griffins will play a three-game series at Kentucky next
weekend, with first pitch on Friday in Lexington set for 4 p.m.
