By Ian Caskie, sports reporter
The Canisius softball team opened their home schedule with a string of mercy rule wins last week against local rivals Mercyhurst and St. Bonaventure.
In a combined 15 innings across three games, the team outscored their opponents 35–8 to climb to a four-game win streak. The offensive festivities began against Lake Erie rival Mercyhurst last Tuesday, March 18. Canisius was firing on all cylinders as nearly every member of the team contributed at the plate.Â
Ella Johel started the party early with an RBI triple in the first inning, and it was smooth sailing for the Griffs from there. Contributions by senior infielders Rosie Gomez and Emily Ilano, as well as a three-run homer by freshman Vivi Vargas, helped balloon the score to 10–0 by the end of five innings, resulting in an early end to game one.
Game two was just as eventful for the Griffs, as a flurry of runs in the third and fourth innings resulted in another run-away win. Contrary to the first game, Canisius did their damage on the basepaths. Two sacrifice RBIs by Cara Edwards and Sofia Escoto and a double steal by Edwards and Bailey Alatorre showed the Mercyhurst Lakers that the Griffs can beat you in the batter's box and on the basepaths. Vargas had another three-run home run, and her six-RBI day earned her MAAC Rookie of the Week recognition.
Canisius’ outing versus St. Bonaventure started off on easy street, but turned into a knockdown dragout fight by the end. After a Rosie Gomez sacrifice fly and an error by the Bonnies shortstop led to a run in the first inning, St. Bonaventure poured on eight runs in the second and third inning. But Canisius did not take their heads out of the game, and capitalized on sloppy defense by their Little Three rivals, putting up 13 unanswered runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to propel them to their third run-away win in as many days. These two teams originally had a second game scheduled for the 18th, but it was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
The team is now gearing up for a heavy dose of conference matchups over the next few weeks. First up is a roadtrip to face Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland this weekend, March 29 and 30. Canisius will then face Marist in Poughkeepsie for a two game set on April Fool’s Day. Game times can be found at gogriffs.com.
Photo courtesy of Jarret Abelson