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Megan Giese loads up for a pitch in a MAAC Softball Championship game against Iona on May 8, 2024.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
5
Winner Canisius CANISIUS 22-20
1
Marist MARIST 36-18
Winner
Canisius CANISIUS
22-20
5
Final
1
Marist MARIST
36-18
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Canisius CANISIUS 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 5 5 1
Marist MARIST 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 6

W: Giese, Megan (17-9) L: K. Myers (15-7)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Advances with Win Over Top-Seeded Marist

Canisius senior Megan Giese went the distance in the circle and allowed just one run on nine hits and she also hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to help lead the Golden Griffins to a 5-1 victory over top-seeded Marist Thursday afternoon on the second day of the 2024 MAAC Softball Championship at Gartland Park in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
 
With the win, Canisius (22-20) advanced to the MAAC Softball Championship winner's bracket final, where the Blue and Gold will meet sixth-seeded Siena on Friday at 11 a.m. Siena advanced to the winner's bracket game after the Saints defeated second-seeded Niagara, 3-2, in the first game of the day on Thursday. Marist (36-18) fell into the elimination bracket with the loss. The host Red Foxes will play second-seeded Niagara at 1:30 p.m., on Friday.
 
GAME RECAP
For the second-straight day, the Griffs got on the scoreboard with a single run in the first inning after junior Alyssa Cloutier raced home from second base on a fielding error by the Marist defense, one of six fielding errors charged against the Red Foxes in the game. Marist loaded the bases in the home-half of the first, but Giese struck out Samantha Rogers to end the Red Foxes' scoring threat. In the bottom of the second, however, Marist tied the game at 1-1 thanks to a solo homer off the bat of Isabella Manory.  
 
Canisius regained the lead for good in the top of the third thanks to an RBI-single by junior Emily Ilano, which allowed senior Gianna Fazzolari to score from third base. In the bottom half of that inning, Marist looked poised to score runs as well, as the Red Foxes loaded the bases with just one out. But Giese was up to the task once again, and she kept the score at 2-1 in favor of the Blue and Gold after she got a Marist batter to pop-up behind the plate and then fielded a one-hop ground ball right back at her to retire the side.
 
In the fourth, Giese led off the inning with her solo homer to center field, her third home run of the season, which put the Griffs up 3-1. Canisius took advantage of two Marist errors in the fifth to tack on another run and make the score 4-1. Marist loaded the bases for a third time in the home-half of the fifth, but Giese induced another ground-out to end the frame and keep the Red Foxes off the scoreboard. Marist, which entered the postseason as the highest-scoring team in the MAAC, ended Thursday's contest with 13 runners left on base.
 
Canisius scored a single run in the top of the seventh for good measure after senior Christie McGee-Ross scored from third on a throwing error by Marist's catcher. Giese officially picked up her 18th win of the season moments later after she retired Marist in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the victory.
 
Canisius scored its five runs on five hits, and Giese's homer was the team's only extra-base hit of the contest. McGee-Ross scored two of the team's five runs, and sophomore Gabi Farris was credited with a stolen base, her eighth of the season.
 
GAME NOTES
• Canisius and Marist have now met in the league's postseason tournament in each of the last four years.
• Thursday marked the 12th time the Griffs and Red Foxes have met in the MAAC Softball Championship, and Canisius is 8-4 in those 12 contests.
• Giese's home run was the ninth of her career. The Griffs are 7-2 when she hits a homer in a game.
• Giese now has seven postseason wins to her credit, and Thursday marked her first postseason victory in the circle against Marist since May 12, 2022.
• Junior Rosie Gomez had a base hit in the win to extend her hit streak to five straight.
• McGee-Ross has reached base safely in 13-straight games, the longest such streak for her this season.
 
UP NEXT
The fourth-seeded Griffs will take on sixth-seeded Siena in the winner's bracket final on Friday at 11 a.m., in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The winner of that game will advance to the championship game of the 2024 MAAC Softball Championship, set for Saturday, and that team will be one victory away from claiming the MAAC's automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division I Softball Championship tournament.
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