CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Canisius pounded out 15 hits, and took advantage of eight Saint Peter’s errors, to knock off the visiting Peacocks, 16-2 Saturday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex. With the victory, the Golden Griffins improve to 15-10 overall and 4-3 in the MAAC, while Saint Peter’s drops to 0-20 and 0-6 in league play.
The game’s first runs weren’t tallied until the home half of the second inning as sophomore Jake Burlingamesingled to right center, scoring junior Canice Ejoh. After freshman Jacob Martins was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded for junior Mark McKenna, who grounded out to second base, allowing Preziuso to walk home from third, giving the Griffs the 2-0 lead.
Canisius added two more runs in the third as senior Ryan Stekl slammed a two-run home run to center field, scoring redshirt Liam Wilson, who doubled to lead-off the frame, bringing the Griffs to a 4-0 advantage.
Saint Peter’s pushed a run across in the top of the fourth as sophomore Cole Robbins singled to plate senior Nick Ciocco, however, the Blue and Gold unleased the first of their two four-run innings in the bottom of the same frame.
The scoring was kick started by a McKenna single, which brought in Martins to score. After two straight fly outs to the center field, Stekl ripped a double over the right fielder’s head to plate McKenna. The frame closed out as Stekl darted home on a wild pitch followed by sophomore Stephen Bennett crossing the plate as his slide dislodged the ball from the mitt of the Saint Peter’s catcher. When the dust settled, Canisius led 8-1 after four full innings.
The Golden Griffins chalked up a run in the bottom of fifth when redshirt senior Christ Conley singled to score McKenna, however, Saint Peter’s got that run right back in the top the sixth on an RBI double by freshman Chris Marquart, setting the scoreboard at 9-2 in favor of Canisius through five and half frames.
The bottom of the sixth saw the Griffs amass their second four-run inning of the day. In the frame, senior Cyrus Senior scored on a Martins single, followed by Burlingame and Martins both crossing the plate on a fielding error two batters later. The output was capped off as sophomore Jacob Victor dashed home on a fielding error by Saint Peter’s, putting the Blue and Gold ahead 13-2 after six innings of play.
Canisius closed out the scoring for the game with three runs in the eighth inning as senior Nick Capitano ripped a ball through the left side to score Victor, followed by a Stekl two-run double, plating redshirt junior John Novencheand Capitano, to give Canisius the 16-2 victory.
Senior right-hander Charlie Sobieraski earned his third win in a Canisius uniform as he went five innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out four. Junior Andrew Kneussle bridged the next three innings as he scattered three hits, giving up one unearned score as well. Junior lefty Nolan Hunt appeared in the ninth surrendering one hit and fanning two batters.
For the Peacocks, senior right-handed Anthony Assante received the starting assignment. The Cherry Hill, NJ native, put in five innings of work, permitting nine of Canisius’ 16 runs on 11 hits while walking two and striking out six. Assante was lifted in favor of sophomore Jean Candelaria for the last three frames. The 5-foot-8 reliever allowed seven runs on four hits and three walks.
GAME NOTES
• With two hits on Saturday, Wilson has reached base in all 25 games this season and 27 times in his last 28 games dating back to last year.
• Conley’s on-base streak now stands at 16 straight games with a single on Saturday.
• Stekl has now started 196 games in his Canisius career, tying him for third all-time in program history with Ian Choy (’10).
• Stekl also moves into a lock for tenth place all-time in school history for runs scored with 126, tying him with Sean Jamieson (’11).
• With two doubles Saturday, Stekl now has 47 career two-baggers, while Wilson recorded one double, putting him with 46 for his career. Those marks rank them third and fourth in doubles in program history, respectively.
UP NEXT
Canisius resumes the three-game series with Saint Peter’s tomorrow afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex. First pitch in game two will be at approximately 2:00 p.m. with game three scheduled to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two.
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