Canisius, Monmouth & Siena Pick Up Wins on Day One of 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship

5/24/2018 12:08:22 AM

No. 3 Canisius College - 5 | No. 6 Niagara University - 4
2018 Baseball Championship | Game 1
Richmond County Bank Ballpark | Staten Island, NY

No. 3 Canisius (32-20) defeated No. 6 Niagara (24-26), 5-4, to advance in the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship winner’s bracket. Today’s win marks the first MAAC Championship win for first-year head coach Matt Mazurek. He is the first Canisius Baseball head coach to earn a win in his MAAC Championship debut.

Canisius Notes:

2018 MAAC Pitcher of the Year, senior J.P. Stevenson earned the win his 10^th of the season. Stevenson tossed 7.0 innings, allowed three runs, earned, on five hits. He struck out six and walked none in the 110-pitch effort. Stevenson’s 10^th win is a career-high.
2018 MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, senior Tyler Smith recorded a six-out save. The save was his 10^th of the season. Smith allowed one run, earned, on one hit. He struck out three and walked two.
Junior outfielder Mark McKenna went 2-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Junior infielder Conner Morro went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Morro drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
The Griffs extended their winning streak to five games in a row.
Today marked the first time that the Battle of the Bridge was played in the MAAC Baseball Championship.
With today’s game, Canisius made its 12^th-straight appearance in the MAAC Baseball Championship.

Niagara Notes:

The Purple Eagles will take on Marist in Game 5 of the championship, tomorrow, May 24, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
2018 MAAC Player of the Year, junior Greg Cullen went 1-3 at the plate with a solo home run. Cullen leads the nation in hitting at a .455 clip.
Senior infielder Phillippe Langlois went 1-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
Red-shirt senior Cody Eckerson picked up the no-decision. He went 6.0 innings, surrendered three runs, earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked three in the 118-pitch outing.
Junior Tyler Howard took the loss. He went 2.0 inning in relief and allowed two runs, both unearned.

No. 4 Siena College - 6 | No. 5 Marist College - 3
2018 Baseball Championship | Game 2
Richmond County Bank Ballpark | Staten Island, NY

No. 3 Siena (20-33) knocked off No. 5 Marist (26-22), 6-3, in Game 2 of the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship. The Saints advanced in the winner’s bracket to face No. 1 Monmouth University in Game 3 of the championship, which immediately followed Game 2.

Siena Notes:

Senior infielder Brian Kelly went 1-3 with a first inning grand slam, which gave the Saints an early 4-0 lead.
Junior infielder Marcos Campos extended his hitting streak to 22 games by going 3-4 in the win. All three of his hits were singles and he also scored a pair of runs.
Senior catcher Phil Madonna went 2-3 with two runs scored.
Junior Tommy Miller earned the win, his ninth of the season. He tossed 7.2 innings, allowed three runs, two earned. He struck out five and walked three in the 127-pitch effort. Miller improved to 8-1 against MAAC opponents this season.
Junior Tom Sutera notched his first save of the season in 1.1 innings of work. The save was Siena’s first of the season.
Siena head coach Tony Rossi, who is in his 49^th season at the helm coached in his 49^th MAAC Baseball Championship game.
Siena reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth season in a row.
The Saint have won three out of the four meetings this season against rival Marist.

Marist Notes:

Junior infielder Anthony Lazar went 2-3 with an RBI from the leadoff spot. Junior outfielder Frankie Gregoire finished the game 2-4 with a double.
Senior Charlie Jerla took the loss. He pitched 6.0 innings, surrendered six runs, four earned, and eight hits. He struck out seven and walked four.
Senior Mike Coss tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in relief and struck out three.
The Red Foxes will take on Niagara tomorrow, May 24, at 3:30 p.m. in an elimination game on ESPN+.

No. 1 Monmouth University – 5 | No. 4 Siena College – 4
2018 Baseball Championship | Game 3
Richmond County Bank Ballpark | Staten Island, NY

No. 1 Monmouth (29-23) defeated No. 4 Siena (20-34) to advance in the winner’s bracket of the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship. Kyle Norman drove in the game’s winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to break a 4-4 tie. The Hawks will play the winner of No. 2 Quinnipiac and No. 3 Canisius on Friday, May 25 at noon on ESPN+.

Monmouth Notes:

Norman finished the game 1-4, his one hit being the game-winner. He also scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fielder’s choice.
The Hawks have now won 17 of their last 20 games.
Sophomore catcher Zach Schild gave the Hawks a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning with a solo home run to left field. The homer was the first of his career.
Sophomore infielder Joseph Zega went 1-4 with two RBI. Zega singled to left in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Schild.
2018 MAAC Rookie of the Year, freshman Dan Klepchick was credited with the no-decision. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowed three runs, earned, on seven hits. Klepchick struck out seven and walked two in the 93-pitch effort.
Senior Austin Counsellor picked up the win for Monmouth. He pitched 2.0 innings in relief, allowed one run, unearned, and struck out two.
Tonight’s win marks Monmouth’s first in the MAAC Baseball Championship since 2016 when it defeated Marist, 9-6.

Siena Notes:

Siena will meet the winner of No. 5 Marist and No. 6 Niagara in an elimination game tomorrow, May 24, at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
The Saints had four student-athletes record multi-hit games (Kelly, Bishop, Crimmin, Lowndes).
Lowndes drove in the game’s first run with a single to center in the top of the second inning. He later singled to left in the top of the seventh to give the Saints a 2-1 lead.
After Monmouth took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Siena tied the game up in the top of the ninth. Senior catcher Phil Madonna reached on an error, which brought home junior infielder Matt Hamel.
Sophomore Brendan White took the loss for Siena. White tossed 8.1 innings, allowed five runs, two earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked two.

For all information on the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship, visit maacsports.com/baseball. Be sure to join the conversation on all social media platforms using #MAACBaseball.

Championship tickets can be purchased at ticketreturn.com, and will also be sold on-site during the event.

About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 37^th year of competition during the 2017-18 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.