Canisius, Monmouth Advance to 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship Series

5/26/2018 1:23:32 AM

No. 3 Canisius College – 7 | No. 1 Monmouth University – 4
2018 Baseball Championship | Game 7
Richmond County Bank Ballpark | Staten Island, NY

No. 3 Canisius (34-20) defeated No. 1 Monmouth (29-24), 7-4, to advance to the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship. The Griffs will play in their seventh MAAC Championship, which are the third most in conference history. All of Canisius’ championship game appearances have come since 2009.

Canisius will face Monmouth in the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship series tomorrow, May 26, at noon on ESPN+.

Canisius Notes:

John Conti went 2-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Conti drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-run single to center in the top of the eighth inning. He later scored a run on a single by Christ Conley.
Mark McKenna went 3-5 at the plate with a triple and an RBI. McKenna plated Canisius’ first run of the game with a three-bagger off the right field wall.
Ryan Stekl finished the game 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He drove in the Griffs’ second run of the game with a single to left center. Stekl also recorded a steal of home on the backend of a double-steal in the top of the fifth inning.
2018 MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, Tyler Smith picked up the win, his second of the season. He tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and recorded three strikeouts.
Canisius took the lead in the top of the eighth inning when they tallied four runs on four hits.
With the win the Griffs have won seven games in a row, which is their longest such streak since April 16-29, 2016. Canisius has recorded three wins in the MAAC Championship. It is the fourth time that the Griffs have won three or more games in the MAAC Championship.
Canisius has tallied 13 of its 23 runs in the championship in the seventh inning or later.

Monmouth Notes:

With the loss, the Hawks played an elimination game Quinnipiac that immediately followed Game 8 of the MAAC Baseball Championship.
Shaine Hughes went 2-4 with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning. The home run was Hughes’ eighth of the season.
Pete Papcun went 1-5 with two RBI. He recorded an RBI ground out in the bottom of the first and then an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
Austin Counsellor took the loss for Monmouth. He pitched 0.2 innings, allowed four runs, unearned, on four hits. He struck out one in the outing.

No. 2 Quinnipiac University – 7 | No. 4 Siena College – 6 (10 innings)
2018 Baseball Championship | Game 8
Richmond County Bank Ballpark | Staten Island, NY

No. 2 Quinnipiac (26-29) edged No. 4 Siena (21-35) in extra innings to advance in the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship. Ben Gibson walked it off for the Bobcats when he doubled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10^th inning.

Quinnipiac played Monmouth in an elimination game that immediately followed Game 8 of the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship.

Quinnipiac Notes:

The Bobcats trailed, 6-3, in the bottom of the ninth before they rallied to tie the game. Liam Scafariello singled to drive in a run, Brian Moskey followed with an RBI ground out. Colton Bender tied the game at 6-6 with an RBI single to right field.
Gibson went 1-6 with an RBI in the win. His one hit was the game-winner, which chased home Kevin Huscher.
Evan Vulgamore went 4-5 with a double and an RBI. It was the third time this season that he drove in at least four runs in a game.
Scafariello crushed his 15^th home run of the season over the batter’s eye in center field. He went 2-5 on the day with the homer, two RBI, and two runs scored.
Brian Moskey, Dylan Lutz, and Kevin Huscher all went 3-5 at the plate.
As a team the Bobcats recorded 20 hits.
It was the first time since 2015 that Quinnipiac won at least two games in the MAAC Championship.
Mike Davis earned the win for Quinnipiac. Davis tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and allowed just one hit. He struck out two and walked none.

Siena Notes:

The Saints were eliminated from the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship.
Joe Drpich hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning to open up the scoring for Siena. The homer was Drpich’s 13^th of the season and his third of the championship.
Phil Madonna went 3-4 with a run scored, while Jonathan Crimmin went 3-5 at the dish.
Dylan D’Anna picked up the no-decision. He pitched 7.0 innings, allowed three runs, earned, on 12 hits. He struck out one and walked one in the 103-pitch effort.

No. 1 Monmouth University – 11 | No. 3 Quinnipiac University – 8
2018 Baseball Championship | Game 9
Richmond County Bank Ballpark | Staten Island, NY

No. 1 Monmouth (30-23) defeated No. 2 Quinnipiac (26-30), 11-8, to advance to the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship game. It will be the Hawks’ first appearance in the championship series. They will face No. 3 Canisius tomorrow, May 26, at noon on ESPN+.

Monmouth Notes:

Justin Trochiano opened up the scoring for Monmouth with a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning. Trochiano tallied three hits, which were a season-high.
Danny Long hit a three-run home run in the Hawks’ five run bottom of the second inning. The homer was Long’s fifth of the season.
Shaine Hughes singled to left to drive in Monmouth’s ninth run of the game, which broke an 8-8 tie.
John Zega pushed Monmouth’s lead to 11-8 with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Every starter in the Hawks’ lineup recorded at least one hit in the win.
Ryan Lillie picked up his third win of the season after he pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out six and walked none in the 51-pitch effort. The six strikeouts were a season-high.
The win marks Monmouth’s second in the championship. It is only the second time that the Hawks have won at least two games in the MAAC Baseball Championship, the last time was 2014.
Starting pitcher Ricky Dennis picked up the no-decision. He pitched 4.2 innings, allowed six hits, four runs, three earned, and six hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Monmouth advances to the championship series out of the elimination bracket. The Hawks would need to win both games of the series to claim the championship.

Quinnipiac Notes:

The Bobcats erased a six-run deficit by tallying four runs in both the top of the fifth and sixth innings.
Ben Gibson went 3-5 with two RBI. He drove in a run with a single in the top of the fifth inning. Gibson later singled to right in the top of the sixth inning to chase home a run.
Quinnipiac’s 1-3 hitters (Marrero, Lutz, Gibson) went a combined 8-14 with five RBI. Marrero went 2-4 with two RBI, while Lutz went 3-5 with an RBI.
The Bobcats have been eliminated from the 2018 MAAC Baseball Championship.

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.