NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - The Niagara baseball team (20-25, 8-12 MAAC) earned a doubleheader split with Marist (19-24, 8-12 MAAC) at Sal Maglie Stadium on Saturday. Daniel Morari (Saskatoon, Sask.) improved to 3-0 at home and lowered his earned-run average to an impressive 0.47 with his fourth complete game of the season in game two. The Purple Eagles won the second game 4-1 after dropping game one 7-2.

"Dan Morari once again did an outstanding job on the mound for us," Niagara head coach Chris Chernisky said. "He gave us a chance to win the series with another quality pitching performance at home."

Niagara 4, Marist 1
Morari (6-4) allowed just an unearned run in the first inning in his fourth complete game of the season. He scattered four hits and struck out two while walking three Red Foxes.

Marist's Kyle Meyer led off the game with a walk and advanced to third without a Red Fox hit. He scampered home on a passed ball for the lone blemish on Morari's night. After back-to-back one-out singles in the fifth, Morari retired the final eight batters for the win.

Senior Chris Leendertse (Ancaster, Ont.) cracked a seeing-eye single through the left side that plated two and gave Niagara a 3-1 lead. Senior Tim Alberts (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) collected two of his four his on the day in the second game, including a triple to deep center field in the fifth inning. Pinch-hitter Graham Skelhorne-Gross (Mississagua, Ont.) plated him for a 4-1 advantage with a single deep in the hole at shortstop.

Marist 7, Niagara 2
Jonny Smith (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) got his first career start in the infield in the doubleheader, as the freshman manned third base for the Purple Eagles. He collected two hits, stole a base and scored and made a pair of defensive gems at the hot corner. It wasn't enough, however, as the Red Foxes jumped out to a 3-0 lead and tacked on four runs in the final few frames to put the game out of reach.

Niagara fought back with a pair of runs in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to one-run on and RBI groundout by Andrew Macdonald (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) and a single by Alberts. Smith and Matt Lucchesi (San Francisco, Calif.) scored the Niagara runs.

The two teams will meet in the rubber match of the series on Mother's Day at 1 p.m.