NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – A bid for the 2005 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament will be on the line when the Niagara University baseball team (20-26, 13-9) plays its final regular-season three-game series at cross town rival Canisius College (9-35, 5-18). The series opens Thursday with first pitch at noon at the Demske Sport Complex. The teams will play a doubleheader Thursday and a single game Friday at noon.
The Purple Eagles are currently in fifth place in the MAAC behind first place Marist (19-5), Siena (16-5), Manhattan (13-7) and Le Moyne (14-8). For Niagara to earn a berth into the league tournament it would need to sweep the Canisius series, and then have Siena win two of its three games with Le Moyne or have Manhattan loss two of three at Fairfield University (12-12).
Niagara enters the Canisius series trying to snap a two-game skid. The Purple Eagles lost a non-conference game at Buffalo, 5-2, on Tuesday.
At the plate, Niagara is hitting .271 and has three players are hitting .300-or-better. Junior Mike Alati (Woodbridge, Ont.) leads the team in batting (.337), hits (55) and doubles (14). He is also second in runs (27), home runs (4) and slugging percentage (.509).
Rookie Andrew MacDonald (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) has had a great week at the plate. The shortstop is hitting .526 (10-19) with seven runs, two triples, a home run, and eight RBI. For the season, MacDonald is batting .329 with 26 runs, 50 hits, a team-leading 31 RBI and a .421 slugging percentage.
Junior Andrew MacNevin (St. Catherines, P.E.I.) has a team-best six home runs and is second in doubles (13). The third baseman is hitting .308 with 45 hits, 26 RBI and a squad-best .521 slugging percentage.
Starting on the mound vs. Canisius for Niagara is junior James Avery (Moose Jaw, Sask.) and sophomore Dan Griffin (Schenectady, N.Y.) in Thursday’s doubleheader.
Both Avery and Griffin are among the MAAC leaders in strikeouts with 66 and 99, respectively. Avery leads the team with a 3.93 ERA. He has a 4-4 record in 13 appearances this season.
Griffin is also 4-4 in 13 appearances with a 4.50 ERA. He leads the nation with 13.9 strikeout per nine inning average.
Sophomore Josh Sawatzky (Altona, Man.) starts Friday’s single game. He also has four wins to his credit with a 5.09 ERA in 15 appearances.
Canisius enters the series having lost 11 of its last 12 games. Its lone win came last week when it beat Fairfield, 10-8.
The Golden Griffins are led by a pair of juniors in B.J. Stack and Matt Mazurek. Stack leads the team in batting (.349) and doubles (10). Mazurek has a squad-best 48 hits, seven home runs, 39 RBI and .559 slugging percentage. He is also hitting .336.
Canisius leads the MAAC in stolen bases with 83 and seven Golden Griffins have seven-or-more stolen bases on the season.
Jordan Neufeld, Mike Bax and Ian Horner are the probable starting pitchers for the Golden Griffins this week.
Neufield, a junior right-hander, has a 0-7 record with a 12.58 ERA in 12 appearances this season. Bax leads the team with three wins in 12 appearances, credited with three complete games and a 6.16 ERA. The duo is slated to start in Thursday’s doubleheader.
Horner has started 12 games this season, with a 1-6 record and a 7.62 ERA.
Niagara has swept the three-game series the last two years, but Canisius snapped the six-game winning streak with an 8-7 win in 10 innings in the Big 4 Classic April 26.
