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Olivia Manchester throws a pitch in the top of the second inning against Sacred Heart in the 2025 MAAC Softball Championship.
Stockton Photo, Inc.
0
Sacred Heart SACRED H 21-27
1
Winner Canisius CANISIUS 26-24
Sacred Heart SACRED H
21-27
0
Final
1
Canisius CANISIUS
26-24
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Sacred Heart SACRED H 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Canisius CANISIUS 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 1 3 1

W: Manchester, Olivia (17-5) L: S. Kowalski (12-15)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Advances with Win Over Sacred Heart

Canisius sophomore pitcher Olivia Manchester tossed a four-hit shutout for her 17th win of the season in the circle and junior Morgan Cook drove in the game's only run with a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to help lead the fifth-seeded Golden Griffins to a 1-0 win over No. 8 seed Sacred Heart in the opening round of the 2025 MAAC Softball Championship Tuesday afternoon at Marist's Gartland Park in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
 
With the win, Canisius (26-24) advances to the double-elimination portion of the conference's postseason tournament, where the team will play No. 4 seed Siena at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Sacred Heart sees its season end with a record of 21-27.
 
GAME RECAP
Canisius scored the game's only run in the home-half of the fifth after Cook drew a bases-loaded walk that allowed sophomore Ella Johel to jog home from third base. Johel started the fourth with a base hit to the gap in left center, and she promptly moved to second base after senior Rosie Gomez drew a base on balls. Freshman Cara Edwards followed Gomez's walk by earning a free pass of her own to load the bases with Griffs. After Sacred Heart pitcher Sam Kowalski got a pop-up in the infield for the first out of the frame, she ended up walking Cook to give the Blue and Gold a 1-0 lead. After Cook's base-on-balls, she retired the next two Canisius hitters with a strikeout and another pop-up in the infield to end the frame.
 
Sacred Heart threatened in the top-half of the fifth by placing runners on the corners with two outs, but Manchester got a ground-out, one of her six ground-ball outs on the day, to end the inning. From there, the Folsom, Calif., native retired six of the final seven Pioneer hitters that she faced to secure the win for the Blue and Gold.
 
Canisius had just three hits in the win off Kowalski, who fell to 12-15 on the year with the loss. Johel, Gomez and freshman Tabitha von Kolen each had a base knock for the Griffs, and Johel also stole a base in the game, her 16th stolen bag of the season.
 
 
GAME NOTES
• Tuesday marked the first time Canisius and Sacred Heart met in the MAAC Softball Championship. Sacred Heart joined the conference in July 1, 2024.
• Canisius is now 4-0 all-time against Sacred Heart with three of those victories coming since the two teams met last Friday at the Demske Sports Complex to close out the regular season.
• The Griffs won their first game in the MAAC Softball Championship for the fourth-straight year, and the team posted a shutout win in the league's postseason tournament for the first time since May 11, 2023 when the Blue and Gold shutout Fairfield 6-0 in that year's opening round game.
• Gomez extended her streak of reaching base safely to 16-straight games with the walk in the fourth inning, and Johel stretched her hit streak to four straight with her base hit to lead off the fourth.
• Cook's RBI was her fifth of the season and her second in the team's last five games. She also had an RBI in Canisius' MAAC Championship opening win over Iona in 2024.
• Manchester is the third different Canisius pitcher to earn the win in the circle in her first career start at the MAAC Championship since 2021, joining former Griffs Emily Nicosia and Megan Giese.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will take on Siena at 4:30 p.m., in the fourth game of the day at Marist's Gartland Park. That game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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