Baseball sweeps Marist, falls to Bonaventure

By Andrew Nowel, Sports Reporter

The Griffs traveled to Poughkeepsie for a rainy weekend of baseball where the dreary weather didn’t slow them down. Winning both games of the doubleheader on Friday before the final game getting cancelled due to rain, the Griffs returned to WNY on a two-game win streak.

Canisius got the bats going early in Game 1, scoring two runs in the first inning even before junior pitcher Sam Staerker took the mound. They held the lead the rest of the game as the Marist Red Foxes only scored two runs in the entirety of Game 1. Staerker began the game as the opener followed by senior pitcher Peyton Consigli, who tossed seven innings with no earned runs as the Red Foxes only scored an unearned run off Consigli. His performance earned him MAAC Pitcher of the Week.

Game 2 began with the opposite start as Marist jumped to a quick 1–0 lead in the first inning before the Griffs tied the game on an Owen Silliman walk. The junior from East Aurora continued to find success at the top of Head Coach Matt Maurek’s lineup, slashing .300 in the doubleheader. A homerun from sophomore Eric Weeks, the second of his collegiate career, extended the Griffs lead and they built on it as the game progressed.

The dagger came in the sixth inning led by senior Trent Rumley with an RBI single where he would later score to extend the Griffs lead to 7–2. Even with a Red Foxes’ homer in the eighth inning, it was too little too late as the Griffs defeated Marist 7–4 in Game 2. Rumley, with his performance of seven hits in ten at-bats, seven RBI and five runs scored, earned himself MAAC Player of the Week.

“I’m hitting in the four-hole, so I understand that my job is to drive in runs, and the last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to capitalize,” said Rumley on Tuesday.

A midweek trip down to Olean was in store for Canisius coming off the cancellation of Sunday’s game in Poughkeepsie. The Griffs were ready to take on the Bonnies and grad student Levi Abbott began the game with two shutout innings for Canisius. However, freshman Brian Smith’s struggles continued as he allowed four earned runs in the third, giving the Bonnies a 4–0 lead. Freshman Noah Albano had pitched spectacularly against the Fairfield Stags in his last appearance, but the Bonnies tagged three more earned runs to make it a 7–0 Bonaventure lead.

The offense came alive in the middle innings for Canisius, shortening down the Bonnies lead to 7–5, but a three-run sixth and seventh put a comeback to bed, giving Saint Bonaventure the 13–6 victory. 

The pitching struggles stem from not being able to control the run game of the opposing team, Matt Mazurek said on Tuesday. “We have to clean up some things when it comes to our pitchers holding the runners,” explained Mazurek. “We also have some footwork issues with some of our positioning. I’ll call it the laziness of catching in this day and age with some guys getting comfortable with one leg out where you need both legs underneath you to be able to throw.”

The Griffs return to the field this weekend against the Sacred Heart Pioneers in Fairfield, Conn.

Photo courtesy of Dave Schofield