Canisius & Iona Earn Wins in MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship Opener
MAAC Sports
No. 3 Canisius College – 11 | No. 6 Rider University University – 8
2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship First Round – Game One
Sal Maglie Stadium
Niagara Falls, NY
Score by Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Rider 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 8 13 4
Canisius 2 0 2 0 0 0 6 1 X 11 12 0
No. 3 Canisius College defeated No. 6 Rider University, 11-8, in the first game of the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship. The Griffs play No. 2 Marist College tomorrow, May 25 at 12:00 p.m. on MAAC.TV.
Canisius' sophomore starter Andrew Sipowicz (6-3) earned the win, he tossed 6.2 innings, allowed three runs, earned, on five hits. He struck out three and walked two. Junior Tyler Smith recorded his 11th save of the season. Smith entered the game in the top of the ninth inning with runners on first and second. He threw three pitches and got Broncs' junior outfielder Brain Uliana to ground into a game-ending double play.
Canisius tallied two runs in the bottom half of the first inning on a two-run home run by junior catcher Gage Lanning. The homer was Lanning's third of the season. Red-shirt junior third baseman Liam Wilson drove in a run with a triple to left-centerfield in the bottom of the third inning. Wilson later scored on wild pitch.
The Griffs tallied six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on three hits. The 2017 MAAC Baseball Player of the Year, senior shortstop Jake Lumley went 2-4 on the day with two runs scored.
Junior infielder Ryan Stekl went 3-4 with three runs scored and a walk. Junior outfielder Cyrus Senior went 2-4 with two RBI and a stolen base. Senior drove in two runs with a single to rightfield in the bottom of the seventh.
Rider scored three runs in the top of the first inning off Sipowicz. Graduate catcher Lee Lipinski drove in two runs with a two-out double down the leftfield line that gave the Broncs an early 2-0 lead. Junior first basemen Jake Bender followed with a two-out RBI single to extend Rider's first inning lead to 3-0.
Broncs' senior designated hitter Riley Mihalik hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning, which cut Canisius' lead to 11-8. The homer was Mihalik's sixth of the season and the grand slam was the first by a Rider batter this season.
Mihalik went 2-5 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs scored in the loss. Lipinski went 2-5 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. Senior first baseman Tyler Kaiser went 3-4 with a double and a run scored.
Junior Nick Margevicius (6-4) took the loss for Rider. Margevicius pitched 6.1 inning, allowed five runs, earned, on eight hits. He struck out nine and walked none in the 111-pitch effort.
Today's victory marks Canisius' fourth this season over Rider, the Griffs are currently on a three-game winning streak. With the loss, the Broncs snapped a four-game winning streak.
Rider plays its second game of the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship tomorrow, Thursday, May 25 at 3:30 p.m. against No. 5 Manhattan College.
#4 Iona College – 5 | #5 Manhattan College – 1
2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship First Round – Game Two
Sal Maglie Stadium
Niagara Falls, NY
Score by Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Manhattan 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 0
Iona 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 X 5 6 0
No. 4 Iona College defeated No. 5 Manhattan College, 5-1, to earn its first win in the MAAC Baseball Championship since 1997. The Gaels play No. 1 Fairfield University in the third game this evening at 7:30 p.m. on MAAC.TV.
Gaels' senior starter Bill Maier (8-5) earned the win in a complete game effort. Maier went the distance, allowed one run, earned, on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one. The outing marked Maier's first complete game of the season and the second of his career. The senior tossed 122 pitches, which included 30 first-pitch strikes.
Iona scored the game's first run in the bottom of the third inning, freshman leftfielder hit a sacrifice fly to left, which scored senior first baseman Matt Byrne. Byrne hit an opposite field home run to left to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead. The freshman went 2-3 on the day with a home run, a double, a RBI, and three runs scored.
Picone went 1-3 on the day with a RBI and a run scored. Junior designated hitter Lou Matarazzo went 1-4 with a RBI. As a team, the Gaels hit .286 (2-7) with runners in scoring position en route to victory.
Manhattan's junior starter Tom Cosgrove (5-7) took the loss, he went 7.0 innings, allowed five runs, earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked four. Senior Shawn Kanwisher tossed a hitless inning of relief and struck out one.
Senior second baseman Matt Forlow went 2-4 at the plate with a double and a run scored. Junior outfielder Brandon Valls drove in the Jaspers' lone run with a RBI ground out in the top of the seventh inning.
Iona improved to (3-1) on the season against Manhattan. The win marked the Gaels' second in as many games
Manhattan plays its second game of the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship tomorrow, Thursday, May 25 at 3:30 p.m. against No. 6 Rider University.
The 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship takes place at Sal Maglie Stadium hosted by Canisius College and Niagara University from May 24-28.
The Championship is a double elimination style tournament. If the team coming out of the losers' bracket defeats the team in the winners' bracket, the if necessary game takes place on Saturday, May 27 at 3:30 p.m.
The winner of the 2017 MAAC Baseball Championship earns the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Baseball Selection Show is on Monday, May 29 on ESPNU at 12:00 p.m.
For all information on the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship, visit maacsports.com/baseball and be sure to follow the action on social media by using #MAACBaseball and LiveNF.
Tickets can be purchased for the 2017 MAAC LifeStorage Baseball Championship by visiting maac.ticketleap.com.