Pitchers Eric Stolzenburg and Iannick Remillard both worked out of trouble in the eighth and ninth innings of play as the Canisius Baseball team defeated Fairfield, 6-5 at the Demske Sports Complex on Monday afternoon. Stolzenburg pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, and Remillard had the tying run at third with two outs, but both kept the Stags off the score sheet. With the win the Griffs are now, 12-15 and 5-1 in MAAC play, while Fairfield falls to 4-12 and 2-4 in conference.

In the top of the eighth, with the Griffs leading 6-5, Stolzenburg came in with two men on, and exacerbated the Fairfield threat with a walk right out of the gate, with one out in the inning. The senior reliever dug deep, however, and recorded two-straight strikeouts to get out of the frame, unscathed.  

In the top of the ninth, Stolzenburg got the first out thanks to a groundout at first, but plunked Dan Hopkins to get a man on. Hopkins made his way over to third thanks to a stolen base and a ground out by Troy Scocca. Head coach Mike McRae called for Remillard who, with the count full, got Brendan Tracy to swing at strike three to seal the win.

Freshman Tyler Smith recorded the win as he pitched 2.1 innings and recorded four strikeouts and held the Stags hitless. He did issue four walks however. Alex Godzak got the start and battled for five innings and allowed five hits, five runs, four earned to go along with four strikeouts.

For Fairfield it was Tucker Panciera that got the start on the hill and made it through just 2.2 innings, allowed seven hits, four runs, all earned. Andrew Gallagher came on and pitched 2.2 innings of work and allowed a run while EJ Ashworth took the loss as he allowed one earned run and three hits in two innings of work.

Jesse Puscheck got the Griffs on the board with a two RBI double in the bottom of first. Fairfield got one back in the top of the second, but Canisius posted two in the bottom of the third as Jack Massa tallied an RBI triple, and Anthony Massicci launched an RBI, ground-rule double to make it 4-1.

A big four-run fourth gave Fairfield the lead, with the biggest hit coming off the bat Hopkins who drove in three with a homerun.

Puscheck didn't wait long to answer back and tie the game, as he smacked a homerun to lead off the fifth inning to make it 5-5. O'Donnell's fielder's choice allowed Puscheck to score in the bottom of the 7th, which gave the Griffs the lead and the win.

Canisius prepares for a busy week as it takes on Akron on Wednesday and Rider on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday's mid-week matchup begins at 3 p.m., while the Rider series is slated for a single game on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.