TROY, N.Y. - Behind
11 shutout innings of relief from MAAC Championship MVP Taylor Sewitt, the
Manhattan College Japsers defeated the Canisius College baseball team 3-2 in
the title game of the 2012 MAAC Championship at Joe Bruno Stadium on Sunday afternoon to repeat as conference champions.
The Golden Griffins finish the 2012 season with a 33-27 overall record.
Canisius
scored first for the fourth straight game of the weekend, scoring two
runs in the bottom of the first. Freshman Mike
Krische led off with a single and sophomore Jose Torralba and freshman Connor
Panas followed with walks, chasing Manhattan starter Matt Jordan from the
game. Sophomore Jimmy Luppens then
scored two runs with a single up the middle to put Canisius ahead 2-0 after the
first inning. Manhattan cut the lead in half in the top of the third as Yoandry
Galan doubled with one out and scored on an RBI single from Nick Camastro. The
Jaspers tied the game in the fourth as Joe McClennan reached with a one-out
double and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.
Manhattan
loaded the bases with one out in the seventh but junior Jason Rubenstein came in and got Ramon Ortega to pop out and struck
out Brendan Slattery to get out of the jam. The Jaspers had another threat in
the eighth as they got runners to second and third with one out. Rubenstein got
a comeback groundball to force McClennan into a rundown. Freshman Eric Stolzenburg then got Anthony Vega
to hit a grounder to second to end the threat.
Canisius
could never get a runner past first base in the final four innings and did not
get a runner to third base after the first inning. Sophomore Jesse Kelso led off the eighth with a
single but was thrown out on a sacrifice bunt attempt from junior Brooklyn Foster. Krische led off the
ninth by going the other way but Manhattan (33-25) first baseman Ryan Murphy made a
leaping catch to rob Krische of a hit.
Manhattan
scored the winning run in the 11th as Galan drew a leadoff walk and
moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Jon Fitzsimmons came into the game and struck out Camastro looking
for the second out of the inning. Murphy then found a hole on the right side of
second base, hitting the ball softly enough that Krische had no chance to attempt a throw home
on the game-winning RBI single. Canisius got a one-out single from sophomore Ronnie Bernick in the 11th but
couldn't mount a rally.
Sewitt
allowed five hits and walked three while striking out five in the 11 innings of
work, which included 153 pitches. Sewitt (11-1) didn't allow a run in 22
innings in the tournament as he earned the win in three of Manhattan's four victories.
Canisius
used seven pitchers on the day. Freshman Rohn
Pierce started and allowed two runs in six-plus innings, striking out four.
Freshman Aaron Capser (2-1) ended up
taking the loss as he walked the leadoff batter in the 11th.
Notes: Three
Golden Griffins earned All-Tournament Team honors - Foster (6-for-14), Bernick
(5-for-15) and sophomore Garrett
Cortright. Cortright went eight innings (allowing one earned run) in the opener and then threw two
shutout innings of relief on Sunday... Canisius played in the winter-takes-all
title game of the MAAC Championship game for the second time in program history
(2009)... Canisius and Manhattan met in the MAAC Championship for the seventh
time since 2008, with the Jaspers winning the last three meetings... The Griffs end 2012
with a 5-13 record in one-run games and 3-4 record in extra-inning games.
