The Canisius softball team dropped a pair of one-run games on Friday at the Capital Invitational in Washington, D.C., falling to host George Washington 4-3 before losing to Gardner-Webb by the score of 2-1. The Golden Griffins, which had won three of their last five entering Friday's action, moved to 4-14 on the season with the two losses.
Canisius will play a single-game against Akron on Saturday, with first pitch set for 10 a.m.
Game One – George Washington 4, Canisius 3
A fielding error by Canisius with two outs in the bottom of the seventh allowed George Washington's Monica Macchiarulo to score from second, as the host Colonials posted a 4-3 victory over the Griffs. The win moved George Washington to 8-7 on the season.
George Washington led 2-1 after two innings of play, but Canisius knotted the game at 2-2 on an RBI-single by junior Lindsey Silfer in the top-half of the third. Silfer would later score in that frame to give the Blue and Gold a 3-2 lead.
The Colonials knotted the game at 3-3 in the sixth after Aiyana Leal-Robles was credited with a sacrifice fly to center. GW's Macchiarulo earned a one-out walk in the seventh, and she moved to second on a groundout moments later. She was able to score the game-winning run after the Canisius defense misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Alana Anderson.
Sophomore Moriah Harris had two hits and drove in the Griffs' first run of the day, while freshman Destiny Holani and senior Alexis Roman also posted multiple hits in the loss. Silfer, Jessica Berzins and Meghan Cuda scored run for the Blue and Gold, while junior Samantha Sharkey was credited with her first stolen base of the season.
Sophomore Erika Mackie was settled with the loss after she allowed four runs, three earned, on 10 hits to go with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work. George Washington reliever Paige Kovalsky picked up the win after she tossed four scoreless innings, where she gave up two hits while fanning six.
Game Two – Gardner-Webb 2, Canisius 1
Canisius took a 1-0 lead in the top-half of the fourth on a solo homer by Silfer, her team-leading fifth of the season, but the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs scored twice in the home-half of the fourth en route to the 2-1 win. Gardner-Webb is now 10-10 on the season.
Silfer's homer was one of six hits for the Griffs in the game, as Roman and freshman Allie Block each had two singles for Canisius. Sharkey also had a base-knock for the Blue and Gold as Canisius fell to 0-6 on the year in one-run games.
