Solid
starting pitching performances for each team led to a split of the doubleheader
between the top two teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference at the
Demske Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon. The Canisius College baseball team
lost the opener 7-0 and won the second game 4-1 to take one of the three games
on the weekend against Manhattan College. Canisius is now 21-21 overall and 8-4
in the MAAC, sitting in a tie for first place in the conference standings with
the Jaspers.
Game One - Manhattan 7,
Canisius 0
Manhattan
(19-20, 10-5 MAAC) scored once in the top of the first and then got four runs
in the top of third to take control of the opener. The Jaspers took advantage
of three walks from Canisius starter Devon
Stewart in the third inning, as well as two infield singles in building the
5-0 lead.
That
lead would be more than enough for starter Michael Scarinci, who retired the
first 15 batters he faced. Scarinci faced the minimum 21 batters, allowing two
hits while striking out four in the seven-inning, complete-game victory. An
infield single from pinch hitter Christian
Segar broke up the perfect game in the bottom of the sixth. The junior
chopped a ball up the third-base line and easily beat the throw. The only other
baserunner allowed by Scarinci was an infield single to the hole at shortstop
by sophomore Jesse Kelso in the seventh.
Scarinci
needed 85 pitches to improve to 4-3 on the season. Stewart took the loss,
allowing seven runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out one in 4.2
innings to fall to 3-2 on the season.
Game Two - Canisius 4,
Manhattan 1
Canisius
took advantage of three walks from Manahttan starter Scott McClennan in the
bottom of the first, scoring all four runs in their first at-bat of the game.
After sophomore Jose Torralba and
junior Chris Gruarin drew walks to
lead off the game, both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Sophomore Shane Zimmer followed with
a two-RBI single up the middle to get Canisius on the scoreboard. A walk to freshman Connor Panas put two runners on base, with each runner moving into
scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Jesse Puscheck. Junior Manny
Hernandez followed with a single that bounced right off first base. The
Griffs scored their fourth run on a groundout from junior Brooklyn Foster.
Redshirt
junior Billy Martin and a trio of
Canisius relievers made sure those four runs would hold up. Martin pitched into
the eighth inning, allowing one run on six hits, to improve to 4-3 on the
season. The combination of freshman Rohn
Pierce, redshirt junior Nathan
Linseman and sophomore Jon
Fitzsimmons combined for 1.2 hitless innings to preserve the victory for
Martin. Fitzsimmons earned his league-leading ninth save of the season by
recording the final two outs of the game.
Canisius
plays at the University of Akron on Tuesday, with first pitch at Canal Park
(home of the Akron Aeros - the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians) set
for 3 p.m.
Notes: Canisius
lost a home conference series for just the fourth time in the last 22 MAAC series at
the Demske Sports Complex and lost a home series to Manhattan for the first time since 2006... Martin allowed the leadoff batter to reach in two of
the eight innings he started... Zimmer leads the team with a .368 batting average
and 14 RBI in MAAC play... Fitzsimmons has recorded at least one strikeout in his
last 11 appearances... Foster has started the last 12 games behind the
plate... Canisius improved to 12-7
in Martin's last 19 starts. The redshirt junior has walked seven batters in his
last seven starts... Pierce has now allowed a run in his last 9.1 innings of
relief... Puscheck made his first start since March 31, against Rider... Segar made
his first start since April 7, at Penn State... The three walks from Stewart are
as many as the freshman had in his previous four starts combined.
