The Niagara Purple Eagles keep conference play rolling with a trip to Fishkill, N.Y. for a three-game series with the Manhattan Jaspers. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday, April 25 while a single game is set for Sunday, April 26. First pitch on both days is slated for 12:00 p.m. You can follow the action all weekend with
Live Stats. Purple Eagles 101 (9-20-2, 6-6 MAAC)- Niagara takes on the Jaspers after dropping 2-of-3 to the Monmouth Hawks this past weekend at Bobo Field.
- The Purple Eagles 6-6 record in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is good for a three-way tie for fifth place with Monmouth and Marist.
- Niagara's only conference road trip so far saw them take 2-of-3 from the Marist Red Foxes on April 11 and 12.
- On offense, junior Michael Fuhrman leads the team with a .357 batting average, as well as a .496 on-base percentage. The Palmyra, Pa. native is also second on the team with 19 RBIs.
- Redshirt-senior Thomas Rodrigues leads the way with 26 RBIs. The native of Pierrefonds, Quebec is also second with a .330 batting average and three homeruns.
- Freshman Tanner Kirwer is third in batting average, hitting at a .327 clip. Coming to Niagara from Sherwood Park, Alberta, he paces the team on the base paths with 17 stolen bases in 19 attempts.
- Senior Anthony Firenzi, a native of Corte Madera, Calif., leads Niagara with four homeruns on the year.
- Freshman Zachary Kolodziejski leads the team on the mound with a 5-2 record and a 3.71 ERA. The Livonia, N.Y. native has a 33-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 51 innings pitched.
Niagara in the MAAC
- Fuhrman's .357 batting average and .496 on-base percentage is tops in the conference.
- Firenzi is fourth in the MAAC with a .505 slugging percentage and four homeruns.
- Kirwer leads the conference with 17 stolen bases.
- Kolodziejski is tied for the most wins in the MAAC with five.
- Sophomore Daniel Procopio is fourth with four saves on the year.
- As a team, Niagara is fourth in the conference with a .257 batting average, third with a .353 slugging percentage and second with a .365 on-base percentage.
- The Purple Eagles have scored the fourth most runs in the conference with 152, while driving in 132 runs, good for third in the MAAC.
- The Purple and White are tops in the conference with 57 stolen bases.
Kirwer HonoredNiagara's
Tanner Kirwer was named MAAC Baseball Rookie of the Week after hitting .667 with two RBIs and three stolen bases against Monmouth over the weekend of April 18 and 19.
Kirwer hit a slash line of .667/.750/.643 and went a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts in three games against Monmouth. He started the weekend with a 2-for-4 outing with a RBI, a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base. He hit a sac-fly to right that cut the lead to 10-8. He got NU on the board in the game-two win with a RBI single in the fifth in a game where he went 3-for-4 with two runs, a RBI, and another stolen base. He wrapped up the weekend with another 3-for-4 outing with a run scored and a stolen base.
On the Field: Manhattan Jaspers (11-26, 5-10 MAAC) - Manhattan's 11 wins have come over Florida International University, George Washington University, George Mason University, Fordham University (2), Monmouth University, Rutgers University, Marist University, Quinnipiac University, and New York Institute of Technology (2).
- The Jaspers' currently sport a 4-5 home record, with two of those wins coming in conference games.
- Christian Santisteban leads Manhattan with a .266 batting average and is second with 18 RBIs.
- Chris Kalousdian is second with a .254 batting average, while leading the team with 35 hits and seven stolen bases.
- Joe McClennan and Evan Brown are tied for the team lead with two homeruns.
- On the bump, Scott McClennan leads the Jaspers' starting staff with a 5.04 ERA, while sporting a 39-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 50 innings pitched.
Up Next for Niagara
Following the three-game series at the Manhattan Jaspers, the Purple Eagles return home for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 28 against Big 4 rival Buffalo at Bobo Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
