CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Canisius went on the road on Wednesday and dropped a pair of games to long-time rival St. Bonaventure, falling 4-3 in 8 innings in the opening contest before taking a 7-2 loss in the nightcap in Olean, N.Y. The wins move the Bonnies to 8-14 on the season, while the Golden Griffins fell to 3-20 in 2018.
Game One
St. Bonaventure’s Alexandra Deal scored from third base on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning to help lift the host Bonnies to a 4-3 extra-inning victory in game one of the non-league doubleheader. Deal started the home-half of the frame with an infield-single, then she stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball to right. Moments later, she scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch by losing hurler Emily Nicosia. The Griffs’ freshman pitcher took the loss after she went 7.1 innings in the circle, where she allowed four runs on seven hits to go with three strikeouts and a pair of walks.
St. Bonaventure took a 1-0 lead in the first after a leadoff homer, but the Griffs answered with a run in the second when freshman Kara Paradowski singled back up-the-middle to drive in fellow freshman Lindsi Dennis. The Bonnies scored twice in the third to make the score 3-1 in favor of the home team, but a pair of single runs in the fourth and sixth inning for the Blue and Gold knotted the game at 3-3.
In the top-half of the fourth, Canisius sophomore Morgan Altman lined a base hit to the gap in left center to push Dennis across the plate, and in the sixth, an RBI-double by sophomore Ashley Barnett allowed Altman to score and tie the contest at 3-3. Canisius had a chance to take the lead in the seventh, but the team left two runners on base. For the game, the Griffs pounded out 12 hits, but ended up leaving 14 runners stranded.
Dennis had three hits in the loss for Canisius, while Altman and Barnett each had a pair of hits for the Griffs. JuniorDenver Keller also had a double for the Blue and Gold.
Game Two
In the second game of the day, St. Bonaventure scored single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth to take a 4-0 lead before the Griffs cut that margin in half with a pair of runs in the sixth inning to make the score 4-2. However, the Bonnies tacked on three insurance runs in the home-half of the sixth en route to the 7-2 victory.
Trailing 4-0, Keller put the Griffs on the board in the sixth with an RBI-single to center that allowed Paradowski to score, and the Griffs added another run moments later when Altman scored on an infield hit off the bat of juniorMolly McGuire. The Griffs had six hits in the game two loss, with McGuire posting a multi-hit performance.
Canisius senior Erika Mackie took the loss in the circle for the Blue and Gold after she allowed seven runs, five of which were earned, on 11 hits. She also fanned six.
Game Notes
• The doubleheader with St. Bonaventure marked the 75th and 76th all-time meetings between the two schools. Canisius leads the series by a 59-17 count.
• The eight-inning game to start the twinbill is Canisius’ fourth extra-inning game this year.
• Dennis’ three hits in game one marks her first career multi-hit game.
• Paradowski had a stolen base in each of the team’s games on Wednesday. She now leads the Griffs with 13 steals this season.
• Wednesday was the 109th career appearance in the circle for Mackie, which ranks fifth in school history.
Up Next
The Griffs will return to action Wednesday, April 4, when the team travels to play a non-league doubleheader at Syracuse. Game time is set for 2 p.m.