The Canisius softball team used a total of four home runs, highlighted by the first career homer by freshman Denver Keller, to score a sweep of Columbia and Fairleigh Dickinson on the first day of the Columbia Classic in New York City. Canisius had three homers, all solo shots, in the first game of the day – a 5-0 win over the host Lions, and then followed that effort with 6-0 victory over FDU.
The wins improved Canisius to 7-18 on the season. The Blue and Gold will play a pair of games Saturday to close out the Columbia Classic, starting with a contest against Fairleigh Dickinson at 10 a.m., before playing the host Lions at noon.
Game One – Canisius 5, Columbia 0
Canisius picked up its sixth win of the season after shutting out Columbia by the score of 5-0. Canisius junior Jessica Berzins went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and two RBI, while sophomore Moriah Harris and junior Lindsey Silfer also recorded solo homers in the victory. The home run for Silfer is her team-leading sixth of the season and the 14th in her career, which ties her for third all-time on the school's career home run list.
Sophomore hurler Erika Mackie earned the complete-game shutout win in the circle for Canisius to improve her record to 4-8 on the year. Mackie allowed just four hits in seven innings of work, as she posted her eighth career shutout victory.
The Griffs got on the board first with a run in the top-half of the third on an RBI-double by Berzins, and Canisius stretched its lead to 2-0 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to center by senior Meghan Cuda. Silfer's solo shot to right to lead off the sixth put the Blue and Gold up 3-0 and in the seventh, Berzins ripped her first home run of the season over the fence in right-center to give Canisius a 4-0 cushion. After a 51-minute rain delay, Harris tacked on another insurance run for the Blue and Gold with a homer of her own, the sophomore's fourth homer of the year.
Freshman Lauren Castro was credited with two hits in the win for Canisius, while senior Alexis Roman recorded a triple for the Blue and Gold. The loss dropped Columbia to 3-16 on the year.
Game Two – Canisius 6, Fairleigh Dickinson 0
Canisius closed out the day with its second-straight shutout, as the Griffs pounded out nine hits and a pair of Canisius pitchers held the Knights to just three hits en route to the 6-0 win.
Canisius struck first, as Keller led off the home-half of the third with a solo homer over the fence in left-center to give the team a 1-0 lead. The Griffs broke the game open in the fourth, as the Blue and Gold scored three runs to take a 4-0 lead over FDU. In that frame, Keller and Castro each had RBI-singles and junior Samantha Sharkey also drove in a run with a sac-fly to push Castro across the plate.
Castro earned the win in the circle after she kept the Knights scoreless while allowing just two hits in five innings of work. Fellow freshman Allie Block closed out the game's final two frames, where she allowed one hit and fanned two.
