NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles split their twinbill with Canisius, 4-0 and 11-5, on Monday afternoon in the latest edition of the Battle of the Bridge series. 

Canisius 4, Niagara 0

Canisius nipped Niagara in game one of the doubleheader in a pitching battle between both team's No. 1 starters – Jennifer Sansano and Jen Consaul.

The Golden Griffins' two runs in the first inning were enough for the win. An error by the centerfielder led to one run and Sansano walked home another. However, Sansano did have a stretch of four straight strikeouts from the first and second innings on her way to finishing with 10 strikeouts in the game.

NU had scoring threats in the fourth and sixth inning, leaving a combined four runners left on base without pushing any across home plate. Sandwiched between those innings was a two-run fifth inning by the Golden Griffins as they increased their lead to 4-0, which would be the final margin.

Canisius 5, Niagara 11

An eight-run sixth inning propelled Niagara to an 11-5 victory in game two of the doubleheader. The Purple Eagles scored 10 unanswered runs after trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the fourth inning.

Rachel Ziarnowski started the comeback with a RBI double to left field to score Ali VanGiesen from second. Two batters later, Brittany Richberg singled home Ziarnowski to cut Canisius' lead to 5-3.

NU (13-24, 3-9 MAAC) pushed home eight runs on five hits and three errors in the sixth inning. Ziarnowski had another RBI double to get the ball rolling. The Purple Eagles had loaded the bases when a fielding error by the second baseman scored Ziarnowski from third. Chanelle Ward followed with a RBI single to left field and Bridget Hogan's line drive to the pitcher scored another run as NU now led 7-5.

Two batters later, VanGiesen cleared the bases with a grand slam over the left field wall for her third homer in the last five games. Canisius (13-25, 4-8 MAAC) loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but fell to score.

Sydney Smyers pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win, her third of the season. Ziarnowski went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs, Richberg finished with a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and one run, while VanGiesen had a game-high four RBIs.

Niagara steps out of conference with a game at ACC and in-state foe Syracuse on Tuesday at 6 p.m.