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Canisius University Athletics

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Max Grant at the plate on April 4, 2023 vs Niagara at the Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, N.Y.
Ken Morey
17
Winner Manhattan MAN 22-32
3
Canisius CAN 24-24-1
Winner
Manhattan MAN
22-32
17
Final
3
Canisius CAN
24-24-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Manhattan MAN 0 0 1 2 0 9 5 17 14 0
Canisius CAN 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 3

W: MAHONEY, Jack (3-1) L: Abramson, Joe (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Falls into Elimination Round After Falling to Manhattan

The sixth-seeded Manhattan Jaspers scored 14 runs in their final two plate appearances to earn a 17-3 mercy-rule victory over No. 3 seed Canisius in the first game of the 2023 MAAC Baseball Championship at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y., Wednesday afternoon.
 
With the loss, Canisius (24-24-1) falls into the elimination round of the tournament. The Golden Griffins will look to extend their season tonight at 7 p.m., at Clover Stadium when the team takes on the loser of the Quinnipiac-Niagara game. Manhattan's victory advances the Jaspers (22-32) to Thursday's winners' bracket games where they will face top-seeded Fairfield.
 
Game Recap
Canisius took an early 3-1 lead in the home-half of the third on an RBI-single to right field by junior Max Grant. The Jaspers tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs. The score remained knotted at 3-3 until the top of the sixth, when Manhattan broke the game open, erupting for nine runs on six hits while taking advantage of two Canisius fielding errors.
 
In the seventh, the Jaspers forced the mercy-rule into effect by scoring five runs thanks to three singles and three walks. Manhattan pitcher Jack Mahoney closed out the game in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of strikeouts to earn the win in relief. Mahoney, who came on for starter Will Hesslink, posted the win on the hill after he threw 4.2 shutout innings, scattering a pair of hits while fanning six and walking three.
 
Canisius reliever Joe Abramson took the loss after he allowed three runs, all earned, on two hits over 1.1 innings of work. Abramson came on in relief of Canisius starter Matt Duffy, the 2023 MAAC Pitcher of the Year, who tossed 4.0 innings, where he gave up three runs on five hits to go with six strikeouts and four walks. Duffy's first strikeout of the game in the top-half of the first inning was the 268th in his career, allowing him to pass former Griffs' hurler J.P. Stevenson (2015-18) for the program's all-time strikeout record.  
 
Grant, sophomore Jackson Strong and senior Mike DeStefano accounted for all three of the Griffs' hits in the losing effort. All three of those players scored for the Blue and Gold in the game, while graduate student Kyle Kush ended the first game of the day by going 0-for-2 with a sac-fly RBI in the home-half of the second that helped give Canisius a 2-0 lead at the time.
 
Up Next
Canisius will return to action later this evening at 7 p.m., in the 2023 MAAC Baseball Championship elimination round against either Quinnipiac or Niagara. The winner of that game will advance to play an opponent to be determined on Thursday night at 7 p.m., while the loser of Wednesday's elimination game will see its season end. Wednesday's elimination game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
For complete coverage of Canisius baseball, please follow @griffsbaseball on Instagram and Twitter.
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