CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Canisius falls in slugfest in game one to Quinnipiac, 9-5 Saturday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, N.Y.
Quinnipiac opened the scoring in its first at-bats of game as senior first baseman Ben Gibson singled down the left field line, bringing to two runs, to take the early 2-0 lead.
Canisius answered right back with a run of its own in its half of the first as redshirt sophomore William Krullshot a single back up the middle to plate junior Mark McKenna, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
A sacrifice fly by the Bobcats’ sophomore outfielder Andre Marrero in the second inning put the visitors up, 3-1.
In the bottom of the second, Golden Griffins’ senior Liam Wilson was hit by a pitch and senior Gage Lanning hit a no-doubter, two-run home run to straight away left field in the third to knot the ballgame at 4-4.
The Bobcats then rattled off two runs in the on a two-run single by junior infielder Kevin Huscher to go ahead, 6-4.
Quinnipiac extended its lead with one run each in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings on two solo home runs by junior outfielder Liam Scafariello and Canisius error, allowing Huscher to walk home, giving the Bobcats the 9-4 lead.
The Blue and Gold added a single tally in the bottom of the ninth on a solo home run by senior Ryan Stekl, but were unable to muster any more runs, as they fell 9-5.
Right-hander Charlie Sobieraski got the ball for the first game of the day, and of the series, for the Griffs. The 6-foot-5, Buffalo, N.Y., native, labored through four innings as he was tagged for six runs (five earned) on seven hits, only striking out two. Sobieraski was relieved by sophomore Will Frank, who went the next four frames, giving up three runs (two earned). Fellow sophomore Kyle Warner worked a clean ninth inning, facing four batters with the lone batter reaching via fielding error.
For the visiting Bobcats, senior righty Taylor Luciani was able to get through six full innings on the mound as his winning line ended with four runs (two earned) on six hits as he fanned five and walked four batters. Freshman Arthur Correira came on in relief and picked up the three-inning save. The 6-foot-3, 222-pounder, allowed one run on four hits and struck out two.
GAME TWO
Canisius drops pitcher’s duel in game two to Quinnipiac, 3-0. With two victories Saturday, the Bobcats improve to 16-18 overall and 10-1 in conference action, as the Golden Griffins tumble to 20-14 on the year and 9-5 in the MAAC.
Quinnipiac was able to finally get to Griffs’ starter, J.P. Stevenson in the seventh inning as the Bobcats plated all three of its run in the last stanza on a RBI single by freshman catcher Kevin Bender and a two-run single by freshman Ian Ostberg to earn the 3-0 victory.
Stevenson was sensational on the bump for the Blue and Gold as he carried a perfect game through 3.1 innings before allowing an infield single on a bunt. The southpaw mowed down Quinnipiac on nine strikeouts and only two walks on 96 total pitches in 6.2 innings of work with two of his four hits allowed coming in the last frame.
Stevenson was one-upped by Bobcats’ redshirt senior right-hander Brandon Shileikis who went the full seven innings, scattering four hits (including two doubles to Canisius’ Wilson) and striking out seven of his own.
GAME NOTES
• With his four hits on Saturday, Wilson has reached base in all 33 games that he’s played in this season and 35 times in his last 36 games dating back to last year. Wilson’s streak also includes an on-going 17 game hitting streak.
• Redshirt senior Christ Conley‘s on-base streak now stands at 24 straight games with his two walks on Saturday.
• Junior Conner Morro‘s 16-game consecutive on-base streak ended on Saturday as he failed to reach base in game two after recording a hit in the day’s first game.
• Stekl has now appeared in 208 career games, tying him for fifth all-time in school history with Jose Torralba (’14).
• With his eight at-bats on Saturday, Stekl has amassed 791 career at-bats, the most ever in program history, passing Kevin Mahoney (’09).
UP NEXT
The Griffs finish up the three-game series with Quinnipiac Sunday at the Demske Sports Complex. First pitch is set for noon.
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