The Canisius baseball team scored the final six runs of the game to defeat Gannon University 9-3 at the Demske Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Griffins win their third consecutive home game and improve to 22-10 overall.
Senior Chris Gruarin was 2-for-5 with a season-high four RBI and hit his fourth homer of the season. Freshman Anthony Massicci went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Sophomore Connor Panas reached base twice and scored two runs while junior Jesse Kelso reached base three times in five plate appearances. Senior Brooklyn Foster was 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Gannon got on the board in the top of the fourth with two unearned runs. Aaron Cox beat out a ball hit to first and came around to score on a double to center by Shayne Herold. After a grounder to short for the second out of the inning, Herold would score on a passed ball and give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead. Canisius grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fourth, which started with a double to the gap from Massicci. After a walk to Panas, Gruarin homered down the right-field line to put Canisius ahead 3-2.
Gannon (17-10) tied the game in the top of the fifth on an RBI double from Jared Wiesen. The Griffs regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out rally, starting with walks to junior Ronnie Bernick and sophomore Mike Krische. Sophomore Jesse Puscheck scored Bernick with a flare to right center. A double down the left-field line from Foster scored Krische and Puscheck and made it 6-3.
The Griffs broke the game open in the seventh by scoring three runs on four hits. Freshman Brett Siddall and Massicci led off with singles, and a sacrifice bunt from Panas was bobbled to load the bases. Back-to-back RBI singles from Gruarin and Bernick put the Griffs up 8-3 with an RBI groundout from Krische giving the Griffs a six-run advantage.
Junior Garrett Cortright went four innings, allowing two unearned runs on two hits, and struck out three. Freshman Alex Godzak (5-2) picked up the win by allowing one run in three innings and striking out four. Junior Tyler Soucie and senior Scott Whitehead each threw a scoreless inning of relief.
Canisius returns to the Demske Sports Complex on Wednesday, when the Golden Griffins host the University at Buffalo. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius had three stolen bases in the game, giving them multiple steals in 22 games this season… Canisius worked eight walks in the game, the seventh time this year the Griffs had seven or more walks in a game… Godzak has 18 strikeouts in his last 15.2 innings pitched… Massicci extended his hitting streak to seven games (14-for-23).
