The Canisius College baseball team got back in the win column with a 5-2 win over St. Bonaventure University at Fred Handler Park on Tuesday afternoon. The Golden Griffins improve to 32-11.
Three Canisius pitchers combined to give up one unearned run in the game. Redshirt freshman Iannick Remillard started and allowed one earned run on six hits, walked none and struck out four. Junior Mike Tolsma (3-0) allowed an unearned run in his four innings while senior Jason Rubenstein picked up his first save of the season by throwing a scoreless ninth inning.
Canisius scored the five runs in five separate innings. After St. Bonaventure (16-21) scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Griffs tied the game in the top of the second with a two-out rally. Senior Chris Gruarin was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on an RBI single from junior Ronnie Bernick. The Griffs would score in four straight innings, taking the lead in the third inning with another two-out rally. Freshman Anthony Massicci singled to center and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored on an RBI single from junior Jimmy Luppens.
The Griffs had a two-out rally for the third consecutive inning with junior Jose Torralba drawing a walk and moving to second after sophomore Mike Booth was hit by a pitch. Junior Ryan Coppinger had a two-out RBI single to put the Griffs up 3-1. Luppens led off the fifth with a single and scored on a two-out, RBI double from sophomore Jesse Puscheck. After the Bonnies made it 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the sixth, the Griffs scored their fifth two-out run of the day in the eighth. Booth drew a four-pitch, leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Coppinger and scored on a pinch-hit, two-out, RBI single from junior Jesse Kelso.
St. Bonaventure got the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, but Rubenstein recorded two strikeouts and then got a grounder to second to close out the win.
The top three hitters in the Canisius order – Coppinger, Massicci and Luppens – each had two hits on the day as eight Golden Griffins combined for the 11 hits. Luppens reached base in all five plate appearances, also recording two walks and a hit by pitch.
Canisius stays in Western New York on Wednesday, with a non-conference game at the University at Buffalo. First pitch at Amherst Audubon Field is set for 3 p.m.
Notes: Canisius has now won 11 of the last 15 meetings against St. Bonaventure… Massicci extended his hitting streak to 14 games… The Griffs improved to 22-7 in road games in 2013… Canisius was 7-for-13 with two outs in the game… Coppinger extended his hitting streak to six games (8-for-20), matching his career high… Remillard has a 3.86 ERA in his three starts with two walks and seven strikeouts… Tolsma has not allowed a run in 14.1 innings… Canisius batters saw 163 pitches while Canisius pitchers threw 130 pitches. The Griffs offense had five walks and four HBP while the Canisius pitchers allowed only one walk.
