Marist's Miah McDonald hit a walk-off grand slam in the eighth inning to end the first game, and then Maddie Pleasants' three-run home at the beginning of the second game helped lead the host Red Foxes to a MAAC doubleheader sweep of Canisius on Saturday afternoon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Marist won both games of the league twinbill by a score of 7-3. The pair of wins improved the Red Foxes' win streak to seven and moved the team to 34-14 overall and 16-4 in league play, while the Golden Griffins fell to 18-19 overall and 13-9 in conference action with the pair of losses.

GAME ONE
Canisius trailed 1-0 heading into the third, but the Griffs scored twice in that frame to take a 2-1. After junior Alyssa Cloutier led off the third with a base hit, she came around to score moments later thanks to a two-run homer off the bat of senior Christie McGee-Ross. Canisius extended its lead to 3-1 in the top-half of the sixth after senior Gianna Fazolarri drove in Cloutier with an RBI-single to left.

In the bottom of the seventh, and with Marist down to its final out, Haley Ahr ripped a two-run homer over the fence in center to knot the gamer at 3-3 and send the contest into extra innings. With two outs in the home-half of the eighth and the bases loaded, MacDonald ended the contest with a walk-off grand slam, giving the red Foxes the 7-3 victory.

Marist pitcher Kylie Myers earned the win in the circle after she went the distance and allowed three runs on 11 hits while striking out 12 and walking two. The win improved Myers' record to 14-6 on the year. Canisius senior Megan Giese took the loss in the circle for the Blue and Gold after she allowed seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits. She fanned four and walked four.

McGeee-Ross, Fazolarri and Cloutier all had mult-hit games in the loss, with McGee-Ross recording three of the Blue and Gold's 11 hits in the losing cause. Sophomore Morgan Cook also had a hit and scored a run for the Griffs.   

GAME TWO
Canisius answered quickly to start game two after Cook registered an RBI-single to right that allowed McGee-Ross to score from third base to give the Griffs a 1-0 lead in the top-half of the first. However, the long ball proved to be crucial once again for Marist, as the Red Foxes answered with a three-run homer off the bat of Maddie Pleasants in the bottom of the first that gave the home team a 3-1.

Canisius responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second thanks to an RBI-single from Fazolarri which allowed Cloutier and sophomore Madysen Burkey to cross the plate and knot the game at 3-3. The score would remain tied at 3-3 until the home-half of the third, when McDonald ripped her second homer of the day, this time to the game in left-center, that gave the Red Foxes the 4-3 lead. The Red Foxes added a pair of insurance runs in the fourth and then tacked on an additional run in the fifth to seal the day's scoring.

Marist's Anna Sodlowski came on in relief and earned her 13th win of the season in the circle after she held Canisius hitless through the final 5.1 innings of the game. Junior Toria Kover took the loss for the Griffs after she allowed four runs on four hits in 2.0 innings of work.

GAME NOTES
• Despite dropping both games on Saturday, Canisius leads the all-time series with Marist 38-28.
• The loss in extra innings in the first game of the day stands as the Griffs first extra-inning loss since March 20, 2021 when the team lost at Monmouth, 5-4, in nine innings.
• McGee-Ross' three hits in the game one loss gives her nine multi-hit games this season, which is tied for the team lead with junior Emily Ilano.
• Fazzolari registered her ninth multi-RBI game of the season after she drove in a pair in the game's second day.
• Giese leads the MAAC with 161 strikeouts this season.
• Canisius pitching did not throw a strikeout in game two, marking the first time this had happened this season.

UP NEXT
Canisius will close out the three-game MAAC series at Marist on Sunday, with game time set for noon.