CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Canisius softball team started its Spring Break trip on Friday, going 1-1 in a pair of games at the Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater. The Golden Griffins scored a 3-1 win over Central Connecticut State in the first game before falling to Villanova by the score of 4-3 in the afternoon. Canisius is now 7-8 on the year.
In the first game, Central Connecticut State (1-7) scored first, but the Griffs tied the game at 1-1 with a single run in the third. The Blue and Gold ended up breaking the game open in the sixth with a pair of run, highlighted by an RBI-double by junior Moriah Harris and a sac-fly off the bat of sophomore Denver Keller.
The two late insurance runs were enough for starter Madi Weathers, who went the distance and fanned five while allowing just two hits en route to her third win of the season in the circle for Canisius.
A walk-off single by Villanova’s Caroline Jones with two outs in the seventh helped lead the Wildcats (7-4) to a 4-3 win in Canisius’ second game of the day. Canisius led 2-1 after two innings, and then fought back to tie the game 3-3 in the fourth before Villanova scored the game-winning in the bottom-half of the seventh.
Canisius took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI-single by Castro, and after Villanova tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning, Canisius regained the lead in the second at 2-1 thanks to an RBI-double by freshman Morgan Altman. The Wildcats took a 3-2 lead in the home-half of the third with a pair of RBI-singles.
Canisius knotted the game at 3-3 in the on an RBI-single from freshman Chelsea Czapkowski that allowed fellow freshman Sydney Kreimann to score from third. The game remained tied at 3-3 until the seventh Jones ended the game with a base hit to knock in the winning run, her second hit of the game.
Canisius will play twice on Saturday on the second day of the Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater, Fla. The Griffs will start the day at 11:30 a.m., with a game against South Dakota State before taking on Holy Cross at 2 p.m.
