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Canisius University Athletics

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Gibson Krzeminski bats against Monmouth during the 2022 season
Lindy Feider
5
Winner Monmouth MON 24-23, 12-8 MAAC
4
Canisius CAN 23-23, 13-9 MAAC
Winner
Monmouth MON
24-23, 12-8 MAAC
5
Final
4
Canisius CAN
23-23, 13-9 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Monmouth MON 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 5 10 1
Canisius CAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 4 9 2

W: Hensey, Rob (3-6) L: Duffy, Aaron (0-5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball’s Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short Against Monmouth

Canisius scored three runs in the ninth inning but could not plate the game-tying run as Monmouth came away with a 5-4 victory Wednesday afternoon in MAAC baseball action at the Demske Sports Complex.
 
Monmouth's Rob Hensey struck out 11 batters in his eight-inning start for the Hawks. He allowed one run on five hits while issuing just one walk.
 
Joey Ventresca went 3-for-5 at the plate for the Hawks (24-23, 12-8) with a pair of doubles. James Harmstead hit his MAAC-leading 18th home run of the season. Jake Catalano also recorded a home run in the victory.
 
Graduate student Gibson Krzeminski went 2-for-4 with a double and home run. Krzeminski's classmate, Vinny Chiarenza, hit a pinch-hit, two-run home run as a part of the Griffs' ninth-inning rally. Senior Kyle Kush also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with a double.
 
Freshman Aaron Duffy toed the rubber for Canisius (23-23, 13-9), pitching a season-high six innings while striking out six, matching his highest single-game total.
 
GAME RECAP
Canisius opened the game strong as Duffy retired the first three batters he faced before Mike DeStefano opened the home half of the frame with an opposite-field double. Following DeStefano's double, graduate student Jake Zurat drew a four-pitch walk. Monmouth escaped danger by inducing a double play and a flyout to end the inning.
 
Catalano opened the scoring in the third inning with a solo home run, giving the Hawks the lead. Harmstead added a solo blast in the sixth, putting the Hawks ahead by two runs.
 
In the home half of the sixth, sophomore Max Grant tripled to the left-center gap but was stranded at third after Hensey retired the next two Griffs batters on strikes.
 
Dixon Black increased Monmouth's lead to 3-0 in the seventh on a two-out RBI single to the left-center field gap.
 
Krzeminski opened Canisius' portion of the seventh with a leadoff home run to center field, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
 
Catalano drove in his second run of the day in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. Colin McCreary added to the Hawks' lead with an RBI single, putting Monmouth ahead 5-1.
 
Senior Brett Kochanski escaped trouble in the ninth after issuing two walks to open the inning. A fielding error on a sacrifice bunt allowed Monmouth to load the bases with nobody out. Kochanski generated a double play before ending the frame with a strikeout. 
 
Monmouth brought in Dan Klepchick from the bullpen in an attempt to solidify the victory. Canisius, however, did not go down without a fight.
 
After a groundout opened the inning, Krzeminski hit a double down the left field line, hoping to spark a rally for Canisius. Krzeminski's hit was the Griffs' first of four straight base knocks.
 
Sophomore Carlin Dick hit an RBI single back up the middle to make it a 5-2 ballgame. Chiarenza recorded his pinch-hit, two-run home run, cutting the deficit to one. Kush added a ground-rule double but was left stranded at third as the game-tying run.
 
Head Coach Matt Mazurek's Postgame Comments
"We did a good job on the mound, we got a great start from Aaron Duffy, but we could not compete at the plate. We got guys on base early and then sandwiched a bad at-bat here and a bad at-bat there. We continue to get beat the same way and we didn't make adjustments — we kind of sealed our fate there in the first eight innings.
 
"It's big anytime you bounce back. This one's just a little bittersweet because I believe that we were capable of that earlier and they could have done that earlier. Granted, the guy on the mound pitched a good game. They fought, they have that fight, and it's good down the road but we need to continue to be better."
 
GAME NOTES
• Wednesday was the 22nd all-time meeting between Canisius and Monmouth. With the setback, the series has drawn even at 11-all.
• Duffy's six innings pitched marked a season high for the freshman. His six punchouts are tied for his highest output this season (at Morehead State on Feb. 26).
• As a pitching staff, Canisius struck out seven Monmouth batters on Wednesday, increasing its total on the year to 423. The strikeout total is tied for the third-most by a team in program history (423 in 2016). Only 2015 (444) and 2018 (434) had more strikeouts. 
• Krzeminski and Chiarenza's home runs increased the team's total to 42, tying the 1997 squad for the fourth-most in program history. 
• Grant's sixth-inning triple was his fifth of the season, tying for the fourth-most in a season. He is tied with Ray Jablonski (1979), Kevin Glover (1996), Jake Lumley (2015) and Jake Burlingame (2019).
• Grant also increased his hit total to 79, putting him in a tie with Brian Burton (2010) for the eighth-most in a season. His 125 total bases are tied with Sean Jamieson (2011) for the ninth-most in a season.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius and Monmouth continue their three-game series Thursday at the Demske Sports Complex, with the first pitch slated for noon.
 
For complete coverage of Canisius baseball, please follow @GriffsBaseball on Instagram and Twitter.
 
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