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Canisius University Athletics

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Will Frank pitches against Radford on March 8, 2020 at Carter Memorial Stadium in Radford, Va.
Radford Athletics
5
Winner Canisius CAN 3-4, 3-4 MAAC
0
Iona College ION 2-5, 2-5 MAAC
Winner
Canisius CAN
3-4, 3-4 MAAC
5
Final
0
Iona College ION
2-5, 2-5 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Canisius CAN 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 5 12 1
Iona College ION 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4

W: Frank, Will (1-1) L: BHelm (1-1)

6
Canisius CAN 3-5, 3-5 MAAC
8
Winner Iona College ION 3-5, 3-5 MAAC
Canisius CAN
3-5, 3-5 MAAC
6
Final
8
Iona College ION
3-5, 3-5 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Canisius CAN 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 6 6 1
Iona College ION 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 2 X 8 12 3

W: Sharkey (1-0) L: Boyer, Ryan (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Splits with Iona in Series Finale

A complete game two-hit shutout by Will Frank highlighted a day that featured delays caused by both fog and rain on Sunday from City Park in New Rochelle, N.Y.
 
Frank's two-hitter in the opening game of Sunday's twinbill allowed the Griffs to come away with a 5-0 victory before dropping the nightcap, 8-6, to split the pair of games. Canisius, overall, won three out of the four-game series with the Gaels.
 
Following the weekend series, Canisius and Iona both hold 3-5 records overall and in MAAC standings.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
Behind the first 7-inning complete game shutout since March 2018, Canisius starter Will Frank helped lead the Canisius baseball team to a 5-0 victory in the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader.
 
Frank threw a 100-pitch complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out a career-high 10 batters. The lone walk he issued came to the leadoff batter in the seventh inning. Sunday's gem is Frank's fourth quality outing in his last five starts.
 
Offensively, Mike DeStefano recorded his first career three-hit game, while Max Felsenstein, Mike Steffan and Mike Mazzara also had multi-hit performances for the Blue and Gold.
 
Canisius scored runs in the first three innings of the contest, starting with a Vinny Chiarenza sacrifice fly that scored Carlin Dick in the first inning. Mazzara helped plate DeStefano in the second inning on an RBI double before an RBI single by Steffan scored Jacob Victor in the third inning.
 
DeStefano added to Canisius' lead in the fifth inning with an RBI single. Two batters later, Jacob Martins extended the Griffs' lead to 5-0 with an RBI triple before a fog delay would halt play for over an hour.
 
Coming out of the delay, Frank would assert his dominance on the mound retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced.
 
Iona starter Blake Helmstetter would be saddled with the loss after pitching 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (one earned), walking one and striking out four. James Gosweiler struck out five Griffs in 2.1 innings of relief.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
In what proved to be a back-and-forth affair, a two-run eighth inning by Iona was the difference, as the Gaels snapped a 20-game losing streak to Canisius on their home turf. It is the first time Iona defeated Canisius at home since a 6-2 victory on April 10, 2009.
 
Iona's top two hitters in the lineup, Tony Santa Maria and Jake Field, would combine to bat 7-for-9, scoring three times and driving in three runs. The duo also combined to steal two bases.
 
Canisius freshmen Carlin Dick and Max Grant both logged their first collegiate multi-hit games in the loss.
 
The Griffs opened the scoring in the first inning after Dick led-off the game with a double. A Mike Steffan sacrifice fly would allow Dick to score the first run of the game.
 
Iona would respond with runs in the next three innings to take a 3-1 lead. Oliger would hit an RBI single in the first inning before the Gaels would take the lead on a sacrifice fly. Matt Duffy's pitch would get away from Trevor Henneman, resulting in a passed ball and an additional Iona run to score.
 
A three-run fourth inning would allow Canisius to regain the lead as a pair of wild pitches would plate two runs before an RBI groundout gave the Blue and Gold the 4-3 lead.
 
Another sacrifice fly by Iona in the bottom of the fifth would tie the game, 4-4. The following inning, Iona would have two runs score after an RBI double by Field and a third sacrifice fly by the Gaels would put Iona ahead, 6-4.
 
Before a quick-moving rain system battered the New York metropolitan area, Canisius was able to tie the game, 6-6, after an RBI single by Dick and an Iona fielding error allowed Max Grant to score.
 
Following a 35-minute rain delay, Iona got an RBI-double by Santa Maria, followed by an RBI single to make it a two-run contest.
 
Matt Duffy earned his first collegiate start in the nightcap, going three innings, allowing five hits, three runs (two earned), walking one and striking out four.
 
Ryan Boyer would be the Griffs' pitcher of record, allowing three hits and two runs while striking out a pair in the eighth inning.
 
Iona's Josh Sharkey tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief en route to earning the victory.
 
Head Coach Matt Mazurek's Postgame Comments
"It was good to get out there in game one and win our weekend. Every game we play, we are playing to win, so not winning both stings a bit. However, we still won three out of four, and I believe we are starting to figure out our identity and what it needs to be successful."
 
"Will Frank came out as locked in as we have seen him and really put us on his back. We got him the support he needed and he never looked back. It's always great to see a guy like Will go out there and command the game because it allows the rest of the staff to learn from it."  
 
"We had the chance to get a lot more guys in this weekend and some of our younger guys really emerged on the big stage. So with that, we have some positives to build in into the week ahead."
  
GAME NOTES
• Canisius has the advantage over Iona in the all-time series, 38-25, with the three wins this weekend. The Griffs are now 25-13 all-time in New Rochelle.
• The Griffs had their six-game win streak against Iona snapped with the setback in the nightcap. Iona also broke Canisius' 20-game win streak on the Gaels' home turf. Despite the loss in the second game, Canisius has won 33 of its last 38 against the Gaels dating back to 2007.
• Canisius opened the scoring in every game of this weekend's series, marking the first time that has been done since April 11-15, 2018. The Griffs scored first in a single-game at Kent State and in each game of a three-game series against Iona in New Rochelle.
• Frank is the first Canisius pitcher to record a 7-inning complete game shutout since J.P. Stevenson blanked Western Carolina, 9-0, on Feb. 23, 2018.
• Frank's 10-strikeout performance is the first time a Griff has recorded a double-digit strikeout total since Andrew Sipowicz had 10 against Siena on March 23, 2019.
• DeStefano's three hits in the opening game was a career high for the sophomore.
• Kyle Kush drew three walks in the second game, becoming the first player to be issued three free passes in a game since Stephen Bennett last year against UMass Lowell.
• Grant recorded his first two career hits with singles in the sixth and eighth innings in the second game.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius' upcoming home-opening series with Saint Peter's has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test amongst a member of Tier 1 personnel in the Peacocks' program.
 
Any updates regarding the schedule will be provided when made available.
 
For complete coverage of Canisius baseball, please follow @GriffsBaseball on Instagram and Twitter.
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