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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius infielder Bailey Alatorre is shown throwing a ball during game action versus St. Bonaventure at the Demske Sports Complex on March 20, 2025
Jarrett Abelson
7
Canisius CANISIUS 5-11
8
Winner Merrimack MERRIMAC 3-14
Canisius CANISIUS
5-11
7
Final
8
Merrimack MERRIMAC
3-14
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Canisius CANISIUS 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 8 3
Merrimack MERRIMAC 3 2 0 0 1 0 2 8 8 4

W: Gedacht Anna (2-8) L: Obenrader, Mikaila (1-5)

1
Canisius CANISIUS 5-12
5
Winner Merrimack MERRIMAC 4-14
Canisius CANISIUS
5-12
1
Final
5
Merrimack MERRIMAC
4-14
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Canisius CANISIUS 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1
Merrimack MERRIMAC 0 0 3 0 0 2 X 5 6 1

W: Paulin MacKenzie (1-2) L: Manchester, Olivia (2-3)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Drops a Pair at Merrimack

Merrimack came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to score the victory in game one, and then Warriors' pitcher MacKenzie Paulin tossed a complete-game, two-hitter in game two as Merrimack took a MAAC softball doubleheader from Canisius at Warrior Field in North Andover, Mass., Saturday afternoon.
 
Trailing 7-5 in the seventh, Merrimack scored twice in the home-half of the frame to win the day's first game, 8-7. In the nightcap, the Warriors jumped out to an early 3-0 and never looked back, as they defeated the Golden Griffins, 5-1. Merrimack improved to 4-14 overall and 2-5 in MAAC play with the wins, while Canisius slipped to 5-12 overall and 1-4 in conference games.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
Canisius took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a two-run home run by senior Bailey Alatorre and an RBI-single off the bat of sophomore Grace Walker. That lead was short-lived, however, as Merrimack's Madeline Arvai knotted the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the first with a three-run homer to left.
 
The Warriors scored a total of three runs in the second and fifth to take a 6-3 lead into the top-half of the sixth inning. There, Canisius whittled the home team's cushion down to 6-5 thanks to an RBI-single by freshman Talia Yermain, who would later come around to score to make it a 6-5 game on a throwing error by Merrimack's pitcher, Anna Gedacht.
 
In the top of the seventh, junior Ella Johel led off the inning with a double, and moments later, she came around and tied the game at 6-6 thanks to an RBI-triple to center off the bat of Alatorre. With two down in the frame, junior Alyssa Onyeaga gave the Griffs their first lead since the first inning with a single to left that allowed Alatorre to score, making the score 7-6 in favor of Canisius.
 
Merrmiack responded in the bottom of the seventh by getting the lead-off batter aboard via a defensive error by Canisius. Three-straight walks allowed Merrimack to knot the score at 7-7, and then with two outs in the game, Merrimack's Anna Mitrou earned a bases-loaded walk, which allowed her teammate, Abby Choquette, to score as the game-winning run from third.
 
For Canisius at the plate, Alatorre went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored thanks to her homer and triple, while Johel also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double. Walker, Yermain and freshman Maddy Hans all had an RBI in the losing effort for the Griffs. Sophomore Mikaila Obenrader, who started the game and then came back into the contest in the seventh, took the loss for Canisius after she allowed five runs, three earned, on five hits to go with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
Arvai's three-run homer in the first was more than enough run support for Merrimack starter MacKenzie Paulin, as the Warriors scored a 5-1 win over Canisius in the nightcap of the MAAC doubleheader.
 
Canisius' lone run in the second game came in the fifth after freshman Avyree Sherman reached on an error, which allowed Yermain to score, making the score 3-1. However, in the sixth, Merrimack capped the scoring thanks to an RBI-single by Sam Russalesi, which drove in a pair of runs.
 
 
Freshman Michaela Sycalik had one of Canisius' two hits in the game off Paulin, a double in the top-half of the third. Yermain had Canisius' other base knock.
 
Paulin earned the win, her first of the season, after she went the distance and allowed just one unearned run on two hits. Of the 21 outs she recorded, 16 were fly-ball outs.
 
GAME NOTES
• Saturday marked the first time Canisius and Merrimack have met in softball. The two schools did not play in the league's unbalanced schedule format in 2005 – the Warriors' first year in the conference.
• Alatorre now leads the team with her 11 RBI.
• Alatorre's triple in game one is the first of her college career.
• Sycalik's double in game two serves as her first career extra-base hit.

UP NEXT
Canisius will close out the three-game MAAC series with Merrimack on Sunday. Game time is set for noon.
 
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