CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Canisius Golden Griffins will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s MAAC Baseball Championship in Staten Island, N.Y., and the Blue and Gold will open tournament play Wednesday, May 23 at noon against long-time rival Niagara, the conference office Saturday evening. The MAAC made its official tournament pairings and schedule announcement as the regular season concluded on Saturday afternoon.
Canisius earns the No. 3 seed in the six-team tournament after the Griffs posted a 31-20 overall record and a 16-8 mark in MAAC play. The Monmouth Hawks won 13 of their last 14 MAAC games and secured the tournament’s top-seed and the 2018 MAAC regular-season championship after their game Saturday with Fairfield was called off due to rain. Monmouth won the regular season crown thanks to win percentage, as the Hawks posted a 16-7 mark in conference action.
Quinnipiac earned the No. 2 seed and the tournament’s second first-round bye with a 16-8 record. The Griffs and Bobcats finished the regular season tied with identical 16-8 league records, but Quinnipiac won the tie-breaker thanks to taking two of three games in the series when the two schools met in Buffalo back on April 21-22.
Niagara secured the final bid to the MAAC Baseball Championship by defeating Manhattan 3-1 on Saturday. The Purple Eagles, who are in the conference’s postseason event for the first time since 2006, went 13-11 in conference play this year. The Griffs and the Purple Eagles met three times during the regular season, but all three games were non-conference contests.
Wednesday’s other first-round game features the fourth-seeded Siena Saints against the fifth-seed Marist Red Foxes. That game is set to begin at 3:30 p.m., on Wednesday afternoon. Both Siena and Marist finished the regular season with 14-10 records in conference action.
For the first time in MAAC history, the baseball tournament will be held at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, N.Y. The event is scheduled to run from May 23-26. Also, for the first time in league history, every game of the MAAC Baseball Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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