Five Things to Know: Baseball Heads to Siena for Three-Game MAAC Series

Games 37-39
Canisius (18-18, 8-4 MAAC) at Siena (9-27, 6-6 MAAC)
Dates: Friday, April 29 | Saturday, April 30 | Sunday, May 1
Times: Friday: 3 p.m. | Saturday: 1 p.m. | Sunday: 1 p.m.
Location: Loudonville, N.Y. | Connors Park
Video: Siena All-Access
Talent (Friday's game only): Joe Mixie (play-by-play)
Live Stats: Through SienaSaints.com
Instagram: @GriffsBaseball | #Griffs | #MAACBaseball
Twitter: @GriffsBaseball | #Griffs | #MAACBaseball

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. First Pitch
Canisius heads to the Capital District for a three-game MAAC baseball series against Siena this weekend. The series begins with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday before 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday.

2. 0 to 100, Real Quick
Graduate student Jake Zurat hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Canisius a 10-8 victory over St. Bonaventure in non-conference baseball action at the Demske Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Zurat's two-run home run Tuesday cemented the 100th career head coaching victory for Golden Griffins head coach Matt Mazurek.

With the win, Mazurek became the third skipper in program history to reach the century mark for wins, joining Mike McRae (405) and Don Colploys (325).

Mazurek needed just 197 games to reach the 100-win plateau, beating his predecessor McRae to the milestone by 35 games (232).

3. Series History
Canisius and Siena have played 135 times prior to this weekend's series, all of which have come since 1987.

The 135 games against the Saints are the second-most against an opponent. Canisius has only played its Western New York rival, Niagara, more (221).

Siena is one of five schools Canisius has played at least 100 games against, joined by Niagara, Buffalo (134), LeMoyne (116) and St. Bonaventure (108).

Over the previous 135 meetings, Siena has the advantage, 80-55, including a 43-20 mark on their home field.

Canisius enters this weekend's series on a five-game win streak over the Saints and has won seven of the last nine.

Friday's game will be the first time the Griffs are playing at Connors Park in 1,840 days (April 15, 2017).

4. Max Production
Sophomore infielder Max Grant recorded his fifth four-hit game of the season in Tuesday's walk-off victory over St. Bonaventure.

Grant is just the seventh player since 2000 to register at least a trio of four-hit games in a single season. The Fredericton, New Brunswick, native joins Kevin Mailloux (2009), Sean Jamieson (2010), Drew Pettit (2011), Ryan Stekl (2017), Liam Wilson (2018) and Mark McKenna (2018).

In Grant's quintet of four-hit games, he has posted an .800 batting average, going 20-of-25, with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and 15 RBI. He also has an .821 on-base percentage and a 1.320 slugging percentage (2.141 OPS) during his four-hit games.

5. Duffy Climbing the Ranks
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Duffy struck out six batters in the opening game of last Saturday's doubleheader at Ohio.

Duffy now has struck out 80 batters over his 10 starts this season, which is the fourth-highest total by a Canisius pitcher in a season. He is five punchouts away from tying No. 3 Joe Mamott (85 in 1994), 13 away from No. 2 J.P. Stevenson (93 in 2018) and 19 shy of Mark West's program-record of 99 strikeouts in 2000.

With 80 strikeouts in 62.2 innings, Duffy has an 11.49 strikeout-per-9-inning ratio, ranking fifth in program history. Only Tyler Smith (12.14 in 2015), Ryan Boyer (12.03 last year), Mamott (11.95 in 1994) and Smith (11.89 in 2016) have higher ratios.

Duffy has a 1.81 walks-per-9-inning ratio for his career, which is the lowest by a Canisius pitcher in program history. Doug Carlson has the second-lowest figure (1.90 in 1980 and 1982-83) by a Griffs hurler.

For complete coverage of Canisius baseball, please follow @GriffsBaseball on Instagram and Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

#13 Jake Zurat: C; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

#8 Max Grant: C/3B; 6' 0"; Freshman; L/R

#14 Matt Duffy: RHP; 6' 1"; Freshman; L/R

#30 Ryan Boyer: RHP; 6' 2"; Graduate Student; R/R

Players Mentioned

#13 Jake Zurat
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: C

#8 Max Grant
: 6' 0"; Freshman; L/R
: C/3B

#14 Matt Duffy
: 6' 1"; Freshman; L/R
: RHP

#30 Ryan Boyer
: 6' 2"; Graduate Student; R/R
: RHP