Baseball Heads to North Carolina

Games 8-11
Canisius (5-2) vs. Campbell/Bowling Green/#10 NC State
Dates: Friday, Mar. 2-4
Times: 6 p.m., 12 p.m./3:30 p.m., 12 p.m.
Location: Jim Perry Stadium – Buies Creek, N.C. (Friday/Saturday) & Doak Field at Dail Park – Raleigh, N.C. (Sunday)
Live Video: Campbell | NC State
Live Stats: Campbell | Bowling Green (Gm.1) – Bowling Green (Gm.2) | NC State
Twitter: @GriffsBaseball l #Griffs; #MAACBaseball

The Canisius baseball program returns to North Carolina for the second straight weekend as they face Campbell, Bowling Green and No. 10 NC State over three days.

GETTING STARTED
• After dropping the first two games of the season, the Griffs have rattled off five-straight wins, outscoring their opponents 44-21 over the same span.
• Canisius senior J.P. Stevenson was named MAAC Pitcher of the Week, after picking up the complete game shutout on Feb. 23 vs. Western Carolina. Stevenson went the full seven innings, not allowing a run on two hits (both singles), while fanning six and surrendering zero free passes.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
• The Griffs continued the season with a three-game sweep of Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C.
• In the series, junior Mark McKenna batted .500 (6-for-12), with three walks and four runs scored.
• Junior Canice Ejoh and senior Ryan Stekl also added to the offensive firepower batting .467 and .438, respectively, in the three-game set, both tallying seven hits.
• With Stekl's seven hits on the weekend, he is now tied for eighth place in school history with 203, making him just the 10th Golden Griffin to record 200 hits in a career.
• Senior Tyler Smith picked up his third save of the campaign, tied for the national lead. Smith recorded 11 saves last season.

ABOUT THE FIGHTING CAMELS
• Campbell is 3-5 on the year, with all of its games being played at home thus far.
• The Fighting Camels dropped four-straight to open the 2018 campaign, but are now winners of three of their last four, including a 15-2 victory over Pepperdine on Wednesday.
• The teams' offense has been led by senior Christian Jones, who has a .308 batting average (8-for-26) with six RBI and three runs scored.
• On the mound, junior right hander Michael Horrell has started two games, striking out 11, while walking one and not allowing a run in 11 innings of work.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green is 2-6 on the year (as of Thursday), with all of its games being played on the road. Saturday are its first true "neutral" site games of the year with the games being played at Campbell.
• The Falcons are losers of two straight and will face NC State Friday afternoon before taking on Canisius in a doubleheader on Saturday.
• The squads' line-up has been anchored by senior Randy Righter. Righter boasts a batting average of .313 (10-for-32) with two RBI and seven runs scored.
• Also helping the offense are redshirt junior Jeff Scott and junior Neil Lambert who are batting .310 (9-for-29) and .300 (9-for-30), respectively.

ABOUT #25 THE WOLFPACK
• NC State is 8-1 on the season (as of Thursday), with all of its games being played on its home field.
• The Wolfpack have been victorious in six straight contests and are currently ranked No. 25 in the Nation.
• The roster is led offensively by junior Brett Kinneman, who has been smashing the ball at a .487 clip (19-for-39). He has recorded seven home runs, leading to 23 RBI and 11 runs scored.
• Also leading the Pack in the box is senior Josh McLain, who is batting at a .366 pace (15-for-41) and is good for eight RBI and nine runs scored.

UP NEXT
The Griffs hit the road again as they head to Lynchburg, VA, to face Liberty in a three-game series Mar. 9-11.

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Players Mentioned

#25 Mark McKenna: OF; 5' 11"; Junior

#20 Tyler Smith: RHP; 6' 0"; Senior

#15 Ryan Stekl: 1B/3B; 6' 2"; Senior

#32 J.P. Stevenson: LHP; 6' 1"; Senior

#8 Canice Ejoh: OF; 5' 11"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#25 Mark McKenna
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OF

#20 Tyler Smith
: 6' 0"; Senior
: RHP

#15 Ryan Stekl
: 6' 2"; Senior
: 1B/3B

#32 J.P. Stevenson
: 6' 1"; Senior
: LHP

#8 Canice Ejoh
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OF