Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Ella Johel bats against Saint Bonaventure on 3/20/25
Jarrett Abelson
8
St. Bonaventure SBU 4-13
16
Winner CANISIUS CAN 10-12
St. Bonaventure SBU
4-13
8
Final
16
CANISIUS CAN
10-12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
St. Bonaventure SBU 0 6 2 0 0 8 8 4
CANISIUS CAN 2 1 7 5 1 16 11 1

W: Manchester, Olivia (7-0) L: BICKERT, Kylie (0-2)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Storms Back to Beat St. Bonaventure

Trailing 8-3 heading into the bottom of the third, the Canisius softball team scored 13 runs in the game's final three innings to earn a 16-8 mercy-rule victory over St. Bonaventure in non-conference action Thursday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex.
 
The win, Canisius' fourth straight, improved the Golden Griffins to 10-12 on the year, while the Bonnies fell to 4-13 with their sixth-straight defeat.
 
After giving up two runs in the home-half of the first, St. Bonaventure sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six times in the top-half of the second to take a 6-2 lead. Canisius cut the Bonnies' lead in half to 6-3 thanks to an RBI-ground out by senior Alyssa Cloutier, but St. Bonaventure tacked on two more runs to take the 8-3 lead in the top of the third after Kymora Wang reached on an infield hit that allowed teammates Karena Recrosio and Sydney DeGram to score.
 
A triple off the bat of sophomore Ella Johel started a seven-run rally for the Blue and Gold in the home-half of the third that put the Blue and Gold up 10-8 after three innings of play. In that frame, Canisius sent 12 batters to the plate, while St. Bonaventure used four different pitchers, including Kylie Bickert, who ended up taking the loss in the circle for the Bonnies despite throwing a total of five pitchers to just one batter in the inning.
 
Johel scored on a St. Bonaventure error to make the score 8-4 in favor of the Bonnies, and a pair of base hits from junior Bailey Alatorre and freshman Cara Edwards loaded the bases for Canisius. Senior Emily Ilano drove in two runs with a double to the fence in center to make the score 8-6. Bickert came on to relieve St. Bonaventure starter Mackenzie Frani and promptly walked freshman ViVi Vargas, who would later score the eventual game-winning run when she raced home from third base on a wild pitch by reliever Nolah Moyer to make the score 9-8 in favor of the home team.
 
Canisius sophomore Olivia Manchester, who came on in relief of starter Mikalia Obenrader with one out in the second, retired six-straight batters after the Griffs took the lead to earn her team-leading seventh victory of the season. In the fourth inning with two outs, Moyer came to the dish ripped a ball into right field for a base hit and then advanced to second base on a fielding error by Johel. Moyer attempted to get to third base on the play after the ball kicked away from Johel, but the Griffs' right fielder was able to get the ball to Alatorre, who turned and relayed the ball to Ilano at third for the tag and the final out of the inning.
 
In the home-half of the fourth, Canisius tacked on five runs on four hits and took advantage of a St. Bonaventure error, one of four on the day for the Bonnies, to make the score 15-8. With one out in the fifth, Ilano roped a triple to the fence in left center, and then she scored moments later on a sac-fly to center off the bat of Vargas to secure the win for Canisius in five innings.
 
Manchester picked up the win in relief after she tossed 3.2 innings and scattered six hits while giving up three runs to go with a pair of strikeouts. Canisius tallied a total of 11 hits on the day, with four of those being for extra-bases. Seven of the 10 Canisius players who had an at-bat on Thursday had at least one hit, led by Johel who went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, three runs scored and two RBI. Ilano had a double, a triple and two RBI to go with three runs scored, while Edwards went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. Cloutier scored three times and stole a base, while junior Gabi Farris scored three times and stole two bases to aid Canisius' season-high 16 runs in the victory.
 
GAME NOTES
• Thursday marked the 85th all-time meeting between the two long-time rivals, with Canisius leading the series 66-18-1.
• The second game of the doubleheader was canceled due to cold and windy weather in Buffalo.
• Canisius is now 3-0 at home this season and all three wins have come via mercy rule. The last time the Griffs won three-straight mercy-rule games was April 9-10, 2011 when the Blue and Gold defeated Saint Peter's (twice) and Manhattan.
• Before Thursday, the last time Canisius scored 16 runs in a game was Feb. 18, 2022 against South Carolina State in that season's opener. The last time the Griffs scored 16-or more runs at home was on April 11, 2016 when the team defeated Quinnipiac 17-2 in five innings.
• As a team, Canisius matched a season-high by drawing six walks.
• The Griffs have stolen multiple bases in three straight and in 11 total games this year.
• Johel leads the Griffs with 11 multi-hit games this season, and five of those multi-hit games have been three-hit efforts. She also extended her hitting streak to five straight.
• Seven of Vargas' 11 RBI this season have come in the team's last three games.
• The triple for Ilano was the second of her career and her first since Feb. 25, 2022 against UNC Wilmington.
• Cloutier's three RBI in the win set a career high.
• Gomez's three runs batted in on Thursday gives her 90 in her career, making her the 17th player in school history to drive in 90-or more runs.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will be off until March 29 when the team opens MAAC play at Mount St. Mary's. That three-game series in Emmitsburg, Md., will feature two games on March 29 and a single-game on March 30.
 
Like Canisius Athletics on Facebook
Follow @GoGriffs and @GriffsSoftball on X
Follow @GoGriffs and @GriffsSoftball on Instagram
Print Friendly Version