Canisius, the No. 4 seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Baseball Conference Championship, opened its best-of-three quarterfinal round series against No. 5 seed Marist with an 8-3 victory before being doubled-up in the nightcap, 12-6, Thursday at the Demske Sports Complex. 

The two teams will play a winner-take-all contest at noon on Friday. The victor will punch its ticket into the final four of the MAAC Baseball Championship. Top-seeded Fairfield will host the double-elimination tournament, which will begin on May 26.

Kyle Kush went 5-for-7 with a double during the twin bill for Canisius while also drawing a pair of walks. Carlin Dick scored a team-best three runs in the doubleheader, going 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate with a double and home run.

As a team, Canisius batted .300 on the day (21-for-70), with four of its 21 hits going for extra bases (two doubles, two home runs).

GAME ONE RECAP
A three-run fourth inning gave Canisius a lead they would never relinquish as the Griffs took the opening game of the best-of-three series, 8-3.

Kyle Kush and Carlin Dick each recorded three hits in the victory.

Dick was one of three Canisius players, joined by Jacob Victor and Jacob Martins, to drive in multiple runs.

Marist opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run double down the left field line by Robbie Armitage in the top of the first.

Canisius countered Marist's opening salvo with a leadoff home run by Dick to center field.

Marist increased its lead back to two runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Kapuscinski.

The Griffs took the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Mike Steffan drew a bases loaded walk to cut the Red Foxes' lead to one. Victor gave Canisius the lead behind a two-run single through the left side to make it 4-3.

Jake Burlingame singled home a run in the seventh to stretch the lead to 5-3 before Martins hit a two-run single and Dick drove home another run in a three-run eighth.

Ryan Boyer started for Canisius, pitching the first 3.1 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out five.

Kyle Warner replaced Boyer and pitched 5.2 shutout innings of relief, allowing just three baserunners (two hits, one walk). The graduate student tied his career high for strikeouts (7) as he earned his fourth victory of the season.

GAME TWO RECAP
Marist scored 11 unanswered runs over a three-inning stretch as the Red Foxes tied the best-of-three series with a 12-6 victory.

Vinny Chiarenza drove in three of the Griffs' six runs, highlighted by a two-run home run to right-center field in the fifth inning.

Canisius opened the scoring with a four-run first inning. The first run scored on a Marist throw that hit a Canisius runner in an attempt to get him out at second base. A bases loaded walk by Chiarenza and a pair of RBI groundouts by Max Grant and Jacob Martins led to the early lead.

Marist responded by scoring six runs in the third inning as the Red Foxes struck first with an RBI double. They would then utilize four run-scoring singles to take a 6-4 advantage.

A wild pitch in the fourth allowed Marist to extend its lead to 7-4 before Marist hit a pair of two-run home runs to right field in the fifth to make it an 11-4 contest. 

Chiarenza countered Marist's home runs with a two-run blast of his own in the home half of the fifth to trim the Canisius deficit to 11-6.

The final run of the contest came on a leadoff home run by Colin Mackle to center field in the ninth.

Andrew Fron started for Canisius, lasting just 2.1 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. He stuck out a pair.

Joe Barberio pitched 4.1 innings of relief for the Griffs, allowing three hits and striking out three. The only run surrendered by Barberio was Mackle's home run.

Alex Pansini earned the victory for Marist, pitching the first 5.1 innings for the Red Foxes.

Erubiel Candelario pitched 3.2 relief innings to earn the save. He allowed just three baserunners (two hits and a walk) while fanning four.

Head Coach Matt Mazurek's Postgame Comments
"We played good baseball in game one but lacked the ability to battle in game two. Our relief pitching in game one out of Kyle Warner was great. He did a great job of keeping guys off balance and giving our offense a chance to score runs. Game two, we just didn't execute the best we could on both sides of the ball."

"Kyle Kush had a great day for us on the field. He was comfortable at the plate and it helped give our offense a needed spark."

"Tomorrow our season is on the line and everyone knows that. We have dealt with our backs being against the wall all year and tomorrow we have a chance to put our best foot forward and defend our season. I'm excited to see what the guys bring to the table tomorrow."

GAME NOTES
• Burlingame extended his on-base streak to 25 games after reaching base in both games.
• Kush's three-hit game was the first of his collegiate career. He also extended his hit streak to three games, all of which have featured multi-hit performances.
• Martins also extended his hit streak to a career-long 10 games with hits in both contests.
• With an RBI in the opener, Steffan has driven in 13 runs over his last seven games.
• Boyer has recorded a strikeout in 34 straight games and in 40 of his 42 collegiate appearances. He also has recorded multiple strikeouts in his last 12 games.
• Chiarenza hit his ninth home run of the season, marking the most by a Griff since Ryan Stekl hit 10 in 2018.

UP NEXT
Fourth-seeded Canisius will play fifth-seeded Marist in a decisive third game Friday at the Demske Sports Complex. Opening pitch is slated for 12 p.m. 

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