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Canisius University Athletics

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Mike DeStefano swings against Niagara
Marshall Haim
1
Canisius College CAN 17-16
3
Winner Niagara University NIA 6-25
Canisius College CAN
17-16
1
Final
3
Niagara University NIA
6-25
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Canisius College CAN 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
Niagara University NIA 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 3 9 1

W: Smyth, Kyle (1-1) L: Duffy, Aaron (0-4) S: Cameron, Zach (2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Niagara Stymies Baseball's Red-Hot Offense

Seven Niagara pitchers combined to limit Canisius' red-hot offense to just one run and six hits Wednesday afternoon as the Purple Eagles won a non-conference matchup at Bobo Field in Lewiston, 3-1.
 
Canisius (17-16) had six different players with a hit in the contest while being held without an extra-base knock. Junior Mike DeStefano drove in the team's lone run on an opposite field RBI single in the third inning.
 
Cole Tucker and Eli Selby had two-hit days for Niagara (6-25). Tucker had a double, while Max Giordano hit a home run and Matt Ward added an RBI single.
 
Sophomore Aaron Duffy was the losing pitcher for Canisius. He allowed two runs on five hits during his two-inning outing.

Graduate student Jeff DeStefano, senior David Yankowski and junior Tom Peltier pitched out of the bullpen, logging two innings apiece.
 
Kyle Smyth was the winning pitcher for Niagara after fanning two batters in as many innings. Zach Cameron earned the save, pitching the final 1.2 innings for the Purple Eagles.
 
GAME RECAP
Niagara jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second behind Giordano's lead off home run. Ward added an RBI single, increasing Niagara's lead and capping four straight base hits off Duffy.
 
Canisius cut its deficit in half on DeStefano's RBI single in the third.
 
Dawson Bailey recorded an RBI single in the fourth to bring the Purple Eagles' lead to 3-1 in the fourth.
 
The Golden Griffins' offense was held in check for most of the contest, mustering only two hits over the first seven innings. DeStefano's run-scoring hit and a sixth-inning single by senior Kyle Kush were the only base knocks by Canisius in the span.
 
Niagara reliever Jacob Bruning shot down a sixth-inning rally for Canisius as the Griffs stranded a pair of runners in scoring position.
 
Graduate students Mike Steffan and Gibson Krzeminski logged back-to-back singles to open the eighth in an attempt to spark a Canisius comeback attempt. Fellow graduate student Jake Zurat roped a single through the right side to load the bases after a strikeout.

Niagara once again thwarted the Canisius rally as Cameron inherited a bases-loaded situation out of the bullpen, inducing an infield fly before getting a strikeout to hold the Griffs scoreless.
 
Head Coach Matt Mazurek's Postgame Comments
"We did enough on the mound to win but didn't do enough offensively. When you give away a lot of at-bats and do not compete at the plate, as a majority, it makes it hard to win. We learned a valuable lesson today that nobody is going to roll over when we come to town. We need to earn everything moving forward and we need to work hard to ensure we do that."
 
GAME NOTES
• Wednesday was the 221st meeting between the two Western New York rivals. With the loss, Canisius is now 115-106 all-time against Niagara.
• After scoring just one run Wednesday, Canisius snapped its streak of scoring 10-plus runs at eight games.
• With his RBI single, DeStefano has 18 RBI over his last 11 games. He has driven in at least one run in nine of those games.
• Steffan now has a hit in 14 of his last 16 games, batting .375 (24-of-64) during the stretch with five doubles, a triple, three home runs, and 22 RBI.
• Yankowski struck out a pair of batters in his two innings of relief. He now has five multi-strikeout performances in his last eight outings.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will travel to Athens, Ohio, for a non-conference doubleheader against Ohio on Saturday, April 23. First pitch from Bob Wren Stadium is scheduled for noon. Both games of the twin bill will be streamed on YouTube.
 
For complete coverage of Canisius baseball, please follow @GriffsBaseball on Instagram and Twitter.
 
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