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Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Erin Hufford
Marshall Haim
2
Canisius CAN 5-6, 5-6 MAAC
3
Winner Iona ION 9-4, 9-4 MAAC
Canisius CAN
5-6, 5-6 MAAC
2
Final
3
Iona ION
9-4, 9-4 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Canisius CAN 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0
Iona ION 0 0 1 0 1 1 X 3 7 1

W: Zazzaro, Kara (8-1) L: Giese, Megan (2-3)

14
Winner Canisius CAN 6-6, 6-6 MAAC
5
Iona ION 9-5, 9-5 MAAC
Winner
Canisius CAN
6-6, 6-6 MAAC
14
Final
5
Iona ION
9-5, 9-5 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Canisius CAN 4 0 0 3 0 5 2 14 16 5
Iona ION 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 7 5

W: Nicosia, Emily (2-3) L: DeJianne, Alyssa (1-3)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Fires Back to Earn Split at Iona

The Canisius softball team earned a road split in a MAAC doubleheader with Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y. on Saturday. The Gaels took game one by a score of 3-2, before the Golden Griffins stormed back and took the nightcap by a score of 14-5. Canisius is now 6-6 on the season while Iona moves to 9-5.
 
GAME ONE
The Griffs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after their first two at-bats. In the first inning, senior Kara Paradowski put the Blue and Gold up 1-0 when she was able to score on a play where sophomore Sarah Cantley reached safely thanks to an Iona error. In the second, freshman Destiny Falquez hit a solo homer, the first of her collegiate career, to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Blue and Gold.
 
Iona began their comeback in the bottom of the third when MAAC home run leader, Jessica Chilcott, launched a solo shot to center field. The Gaels tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth with a sacrifice-fly to left that allowed Morgan Ritchie to score from third base. The Gaels used another sac-fly in the sixth, this time off the bat of Brielle Hill, to push the go-ahead run across, making the score 3-2.
 
Canisius freshman Megan Giese, the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week, took the loss in the circle after she allowed three runs, all earned on six hits through 5.1 innings of work. Giese fanned eight of the first nine batters she faced on the day. Cantley came on in relief and got the last two outs in the sixth for the Blue and Gold. Iona starter Kara Zazzaro went the distance and picked up her eighth win of the year after she allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits to go with 12 strikeouts.

Falquez and senior Erin Hufford had Canisius' hits in the loss, while Paradowski ended the contest with two stolen bases. 
 
GAME TWO
Canisius scored four times in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead and then pushed three runs across the plate in the top-half of the fourth en route to the 14-5 victory in the nightcap to earn a split in the MAAC twinbill. Freshman Gianna Fazzolari got the scoring started for the Blue and Gold in the second game with a two-run double, and moments later, senior Lindsi Dennis made the score 3-0 after she drew a bases loaded walk. Senior Sue Vi would make the score 4-0 in favor of the visiting team after her infield single allowed freshman Sydney Costan to score.

Iona tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth. The Gaels cut into Canisius' lead with three runs in the home-half of the first, and in the second frame, Brianna Buck's RBI-single to center evened the score at 4-4.

In the top of the fourth, Canisius scored three times to break the tie, as the Griffs took a 7-4 lead. In that inning, freshman Christie McGhee-Ross beat out an infield hit that allowed Vi to score. Fazzolari followed with an RBI-single that plated McGhee-Ross and Hufford to put the Griffs up by three runs. The Griffs tacked on five runs in the top of the sixth, with Fazzolari driving in another run on an RBI-double, and in the seventh, Canisius capped the scoring when Falquez roped an RBI-double down the right field line that allowed Fazzolari and Costan to score.

The 14 runs were more than enough for game two start Emily Nicosia, who earned her second win of the year in the circle after she allowed five runs, two earned, on seven hits. She struck out seven Iona batters in the complete-game victory. The Griffs pounded out a season-high 16 hits in the victory, as five players recorded multi-hit efforts. Fazzolari went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and five RBI, and Falquez also recorded four hits in the win, including a double to go with three runs batted in. Hufford had three hits and scored twice, while Costan scored a career-high three runs in the winning effort.
 
Post-Game Comments From Head Coach Kim Griffin
"Game one was a hard-fought battle, but we just didn't make the adjustments at the plate that we needed to. Destiny Falquez was a bright spot in the lineup with her first career HR."

"We bounced back quickly in game two scoring those four runs in the first inning. We got great pitching from Emily Nicosia in the circle. She battled hard when our defense showed some inconsistencies."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius is now 41-22 all-time against Iona. The win in game two snapped the Griffs' five-game road losing streak in the series with the Gaels.
• The 14 runs in the second game are the most for the team this season, and it also marks the most runs in a MAAC game for the Griffs since the team defeated Rider 15-1 in five innings back on April 22, 2017.
• Fazzolari's five RBI in the second game are the most for a Canisius freshman in a game since Megan Cuda drove in six runs against Charleston Southern on April 3, 2013.
• Paradowski is now a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base chances, and her 81 career steals makes her just the second player in school history to steal 80-or more career bases.
 
Up Next
The Griffs will close out their four-game MAAC series with Iona on Sunday. First pitch in New Rochelle, N.Y., is set for 11 a.m.
 
 
 
 
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