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Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Andrew Kneussle
Marshal Filipowicz
10
Winner Canisius CAN 24-27, 17-7 MAAC
4
Niagara University NIA 15-33, 9-15 MAAC
Winner
Canisius CAN
24-27, 17-7 MAAC
10
Final
4
Niagara University NIA
15-33, 9-15 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Canisius CAN 0 0 1 0 0 2 2 4 1 10 9 0
Niagara University NIA 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 9 2

W: Kneussle, Andrew (3-3) L: MacKinnon, Alex (2-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Clinches Top Seed in Postseason with Comeback Win at Niagara

Rallying back from an early 3-0 hole, the Canisius baseball team was able to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship with a 10-4 victory over Niagara Friday afternoon at John P. Bobo Field in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
Clinching a share of the MAAC's regular season title with Quinnipiac, Canisius will hold the top spot in next week's tournament due to winning the regular-season series with the Bobcats back on April 6-7.
 
The Golden Griffins finish the regular season at 24-27 overall and 17-7 in the MAAC, while the Purple Eagles end 2019 with a 15-33 record and a 9-15 mark in the conference.
 
Highlighting the day for the Griffs' offense was senior Conner Morro and junior Jacob Victor, as Morro drove in four RBI in the win, including a double, while Jacob Victor had two hits, also driving in two RBI thanks to an inside-the-park home run. On the hill, Andrew Kneussle held the Niagara hitters in check over 5.1 innings of relief, giving up only one run.
 
For Niagara, Dawson Bailey, Benny Serrano and Joseph Tevlin all collected multi-hit performances in the loss.
 
Striking first in the second inning for Niagara, Darian Blanks doubled to score Joseph Tevlin before Marty Cole singled home Blanks. Peter Battaglia extend the lead to 3-0 when he singled to plate Dawson Bailey, but Kneussle entered and got the third out.
 
Canisius answered quickly to start chipping away at the lead, as Morro grounded out in the third to bring senior Joe Preziuso across and make it 3-1.
 
It took until the sixth for the Griffs to even the score, but redshirt-junior Billy Krull delivered the equalizer with a two-run single that brought in Victor and redshirt-freshman Mike Steffan.
 
The next inning, Victor gave Canisius their first lead of the day when he hit a ball off the wall in center field, scoring senior Mark McKenna and coming around himself on the inside-the-park homer.
 
The Griffs struck for four more runs in the eighth, as McKenna singled home Krull before Morro scorched a bases-loaded double to the gap that brought in all three runners and made it 9-3 in the Griffs' favor.
 
The Purple Eagles managed one run in the bottom of the eighth when Tevlin hit a sacrifice fly that plated Battaglia, but Canisius responded in the ninth by back-to-back doubles from freshman Trevor Henneman and junior Stephen Bennett that allowed Henneman to score the 10th Canisius run.
 
Junior Kyle Warner came back out and got the first out of the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for fellow junior Will Frank to record the final two outs of the game.
 
Freshman Andrew Fron got the start for the Griffs, lasting 1.2 innings and surrendering three runs on six hits. Kneussle picked up the win in relief, allowing one run over three hits in his 5.1-plus innings of work, striking out six Purple Eagles in the process. Warner recorded one strikeout in his 1.1 innings, while Frank finished with a walk and a strikeout in his 0.2 innings.
 
Niagara ace Matt Brash finished his outing with three runs (two earned) on three hits, fanning nine but issuing five walks. Handed the loss, Alex MacKinnon allowed two runs on one hit in his inning on the mound, while Jordan Parranto was on the hook for three runs on one hit in his 0.2 innings. Yohn Zapata-Baez then allowed one run and one hit in his 0.1 innings, and Jackson Jones followed by allowing one run on three hits over the final frame.
 
HEAD COACH MATT MAZUREK'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
"Today, it just came down to competing. It came down to guys stepping in the box being ready to hit, which we lacked yesterday, and that's what happens. Yesterday, we lulled ourselves to sleep up there because we waited for someone else to pick us up instead of guys taking the bull by the horns, and that's something talked about last night and this morning. It was great to see them come out here and do it, especially against a good arm like Brash.
 
"Conner is one of our most process-oriented hitters and it is rewarding him right now, because he works his butt off, he knows the game and he knows counts. He's a very, very smart baseball player and you want that up in the order because the guys below are going to feed off it. So, moving him up in the order is a product of his work ethic and where he is as a hitter.
 
"It's a good thing. Regular-season championships aren't the peak of our season, but it's a product of our process. Earlier this year, you go to Indiana and tell yourself 'this weekend doesn't define you in the non-conference part of our season, but the in-conference part will' and they took it personal. For four years, we have been 16-8 and they made it a personal goal to get past 16 wins in conference play. They had to dogfight every weekend, and they rang the bell. The regular-season championship is pretty good for the culture because these guys rang the bell every time were tested and they did an amazing job."
 
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 177th all-time meeting between the longtime rivals, with Canisius holding the 96-81 edge.
• Canisius' 17 conference wins break a four-year streak of finishing 16-8 in league play, and is the most MAAC wins since the Griffs went 20-4 during the 2014 conference schedule.
• The regular season championship is the Griffs' first since 2014 and fifth overall, sharing the title in 2008 and winning outright in 1994, 2010 and 2014.
• Kneussle's 5.1 innings pitched is a season high.
• Kneussle has now eclipsed the 50-inning mark in each of the last three seasons.
• This was Victor's 14th multi-hit game of 2019 and his 14th multi-RBI performance.
• Friday was Morro's fifth multi-RBI game on the campaign.
• Morro has now registered an extra-base hit in five of his last seven games.
• Krull's two RBI were his ninth multi-RBI performance of the season.
 
 
UP NEXT
Canisius play their first game of the MAAC Championship on Wednesday, May 22, at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. The opponent will be the lower seeded winner from the tournament's first two games.
 
Tickets for the MAAC Championship can be purchased HERE.
Other MAAC Championship information can be found HERE.
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