STAFF REPORTS
news@allwnynews.com
BUFFALO — Canisius junior Moriah Harris went 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored and fellow junior Erika Mackie went the distance and scattered eight hits while fanning five as the Canisius Golden Griffins scored a 4-3 win over Buffalo Wednesday evening at the Demske Sports Complex. The win in the nightcap of the non-league twinbill ended the Griffs’ four-game losing streak, as the Bulls came back from a 5-2 deficit early in game one to score a 7-6 victory in the first game of the day. Canisius is now 12-17 on the season, while Buffalo moved to 6-25 with the split.
In the second game, Canisius scored three times in the second and added an insurance run in the third en route to its first home victory of the 2017 campaign. In the second, freshman Chelsea Czapkowski pushed a run across on a fielder’s choice, and then senior Lindsey Silfer followed with an RBI-single through the left-side of the infield to make the score 2-0 in favor of the home team. The Blue and Gold added a third run moments later when freshman Sue Vi pounded an infield-hit into the turf to third base that allowed Czapkowski to score. In the third, freshman Gianna Degaltini knocked in a run with a single to center that pushed Harris across the plate.
Buffalo scored twice in the fourth and then added another run in the sixth to make the score 4-3, but that was as close as the Bulls would come in the nightcap, as Mackie retired the side in order in the seventh to secure her fifth victory of the year in the circle.
In the first game, Canisius led 5-2 after three frames, but the Bulls scored twice in the fifth and then two more times in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. In the home-half of the seventh, sophomore Denver Keller was able to beat out an infield hit with two outs, allowing fellow sophomore Lauren Castro to score from third to knot the game at 6-6. In the eighth, Buffalo’s Catrell Robertson scored the eventual game-winning run on a fielder’s choice. Canisius had the game-tying run on third in the home-half of the eight, but reliever Brieanna Baker was able to shut the door on the Blue and Gold’s rally with a pair of fly-ball outs to earn her first save of the season.
Castro had three hits, including a double, in the game one loss, and she also scored a pair of runs and drove in two RBI. Senior Samantha Sharkey and freshman Ashley Barnett also had two hits in the losing effort for Canisius, which finished the game with nine hits. Castro took the loss in relief for Canisius after she allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits in four innings of work. Canisius starter Madi Weathers threw four innings as well, where she gave up four runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits to go with two strikeouts.
Canisius will return to the road to open MAAC play on Saturday, when the team plays at Fairfield. Game one of the league doubleheader is set for noon in Fairfield, Conn.
