Baseball Travels to South for Central Virginia Classic

Games 5-7
Canisius (2-2) vs Richmond (2-6), West Virginia (4-3) and William & Mary (6-4)
Dates: Saturday, March 4 | Sunday, March 5
Times: 10 a.m./5 p.m. | 1 p.m.
Location: Richmond, Va./Williamsburg, Va. | The Diamond/Plumeri Park
Video Broadcast: ESPN+/FloBaseball
Twitter: @GriffsBaseball | #Griffs | #MAACBaseball

• First Pitch
The Canisius baseball heads to Richmond, Va. and Williamsburg, Va., to take part in the Central Virginia Classic March 3-5. The Golden Griffins will face Richmond and West Virginia on Saturday and William & Mary on Sunday.

Saturday's contest against Richmond will be broadcasted on ESPN+ while Sunday's will air on FloBaseball.

The Griffs are set to play Richmond for the second time in program history. The Spiders won their lone matchup against the Griffs, 4-2, on April 10, 1958.

After Friday's game against VCU was canceled due to inclement weather, the Griffs will now face West Virginia on Saturday for the 17th time in program history.

This will be the first meeting against the Mountaineers not played in West Virginia.

Canisius and William & Mary will square off for the first time in program history this weekend. Former Griffs head coach Mike McRae will face the Blue and Gold for the first time since leaving the post. Former Griff player and coach Paul Panik is also on McRae's staff as an assistant coach.

• Right On!
Sophomore Cole Sebastian hit his first collegiate home run on Sunday against George Mason, a three-run shot in the first inning. Sebastian, who made the start in right field, gave Canisius its first home run at the position - something that did not occur in 2022. Right field was the lone position where a player did not hit a long ball for the Griffs last season.

• Solid Start(ers)
The starting pitchers opened the 2023 season on a high note, with junior Matt Duffy, sophomore Aaron Duffy, redshirt Justin Guiliano and freshman Felix Morin all going at least 4.0 innings in the first weekend of action for the Griffs.

The quartet combined to pitch to a 2.95 ERA over the four-game slate, striking out 20 batters in 18.1 innings of work.

• Get That Ball!
In addition to Sebastian hitting his first collegiate home run, redshirt sophomore Josh Niles also launched his first long ball of his career - a three-run shot of his own against Merrimack. Niles finished the day with a career-high five runs driven in.

Senior Ryan Weiss began his Canisius career with a two-home run game against the Warriors. Weiss, who joins the Griffs after four seasons at Division III Oswego, hit solo shots in the third and sixth innings.

The two-home run game was the third of Weiss' college career.

• Heading to the Country Roads
Following the Central Virginia Classic, Canisius heads to West Virginia for four contests. The Griffs will play in their first midweek contest of the season on March 8 at 3 p.m. against the Mountaineers before heading south to Huntington for a three-game set against Marshall, beginning March 10.

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

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Players Mentioned

#26 Aaron Duffy: RHP; 6' 4"; Sophomore; L/R

#14 Matt Duffy: RHP; 6' 2"; Junior; L/R

#28 Justin Guiliano: LHP; 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; L/L

#24 Josh Niles: INF; 6' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R

#9 Cole Sebastian: OF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R

#20 Felix Morin: LHP; 6' 4"; Freshman; L/L

#35 Ryan Weiss: INF; 6' 4"; Senior; R/L

Players Mentioned

#26 Aaron Duffy
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; L/R
: RHP

#14 Matt Duffy
: 6' 2"; Junior; L/R
: RHP

#28 Justin Guiliano
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; L/L
: LHP

#24 Josh Niles
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R
: INF

#9 Cole Sebastian
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: OF

#20 Felix Morin
: 6' 4"; Freshman; L/L
: LHP

#35 Ryan Weiss
: 6' 4"; Senior; R/L
: INF