Niagara University, NY- The Niagara University Purple Eagles baseball team beat cross town rival Canisius College 5-3 this evening to set a new single season win record with 26 in a regular season. The Purple Eagles clinched a playoff birth Saturday afternoon in a double header against the Golden Griffs and clinch third play in the MAAC with today's victory.

Niagara scored five runs on eight hits. The Purple Eagles received hits from eight different players contributing to the win. Senior Sean Haggerty (Syracuse, NY) earned his fifth win of the season on the hill working five complete with five strikeouts and one earned run.

With the victory Josh McCurdy (Thornhill, Ont) has secured a second place spot for single season batting average hitting .407. McCurdy is only he second player to hit over .400 for a single season in Niagara history, the first being Frank Fiannaca who batted .469 in 1985.

With the win Niagara improves to 26-23 overall, and 16-10 in MAAC play. With the loss Canisius falls to 4-38-1 overall and 3-23 in MAAC play.

Niagara sets the new single season wins record with 16 new faces this year, 15 of them being freshman. Niagara will square of against Marist College Thursday night in Fishkill, NY in the first round of MAAC playoff action, game time set for 7pm. This will be the first playoff birth for the Purple Eagles since 1997.