Niagara University, N.Y.—The Niagara baseball team clinch its spot in the MAAC Championships as they notched their second straight walk-off win against Mount St. Mary's by a score of 6-5 on Friday evening.
Game Recap

• The Purple Eagles put the first run on the scoreboard in the first inning. Despite having no one on bases and two outs, Cole O'Connor started a rally with a single. Vincent Mauro then singled to left on a 3-2 pitch to put two runners on. Both runners advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch which was followed by a Max Giordano walk. On a 1-1 pitch, Matt Ward hit a grounder to the shortstop who did not field it properly and allowed O'Connor to score from third.
• The Mount answered and tied the game at one in the top of the fourth as they scored on sacrifice fly.
• In the bottom of the fourth Niagara responded. Josh Marchese opened the inning with a bunt single but was later erased on a fielder's choice from Brady Desjardins. Desjardins swiped second as Nick Groves struckout. Kelly Corl put runners on the corners with a single with two outs. After a pitching change, O'Connor singled to left and drove in Desjardins from third to give Niagara a 2-1 lead.
• The Purple Eagles extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Matt Ward drew a one out walk and Wyatt Palmer was hit by a pitch after pinch hitting. With one out and runners on first and second, Marchese grounded into a fielder's choice that saw the ball get away which allowed Ward to score from second while both Marchese and Palmer were safe on the play. After a flyout, Groves doubled to left center and drove in Palmer to make it 4-1.
• Mount St. Mary's chipped away at the lead in the seventh as they used two hits to scored a run and make it 4-2.
• In the top of the eighth, Mount mounted a comeback as they took the 5-4 lead on two hits in the inning.
• Niagara could not respond in the eighth inning, so they headed to the ninth trailing by a run.
• After keeping  the Mount of the board in the top of the ninth, Niagara looked to tie the game in the bottom half. After a groundout to start the inning Ward stepped to the plate. On the first pitch he saw Ward hit a towering fly to deep left field that cleared the fence and tied the game at five.
• Palmer came up to the plate with one out in the ninth and a tie game. He was hit by a pitch and then Nate Milk pinch ran for him. Marchese then drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Desjardins then hit a grounder to short that was misplayed and loaded the bases with one out. After taking the first pitch for a ball, Groves drove a flyball to left center that brought Milk home with the winning run.

Niagara Notes

• Preston Prince started on the mound for Niagara and went three-plus innings while allowing one run on one hit, he struck out five in his second career start.
• Steven Hospital went three innings out of the pen and did not allow a run. He gave up just on hit while striking out a pair.
• Zach Cameron earned his third win of the season as the went two innings, he allowed just one hit and one walk.
• Niagara had 10 hits in the game, it is the ninth straight game that the team has notched 10 or more hits. It is the 28^th time this season that Niagara had 10 or more hits.
• Groves, O'Connor, and Ward all had two hits while Corl, Mauro, Giordano, and Marchese each had a hit.
• With his hit, Corl is now on an 11 game hitting streak which is the longest this season for Niagara.
• Groves reached base twice and has now reached base in 21 straight games which is the longest for any Purple Eagle this season. He is second in the MAAC in on base percentage at .507
• By outscoring Mount in the ninth, Niagara is now outscoring their opponents 53-14 in the ninth inning this season.
• The Purple Eagles are 18-0 this season when leading after six innings.
• Niagara did not commit an error in the game, it is the 11^th time this season this has happened, Niagara is 8-3 in those games.
• With the win, Niagara clinches the fifth spot in the MAAC Championships as they hold the tiebreaker with Manhattan as the Jaspers are the only team that can finish with the same winning percentage as Niagara. It is the highest Niagara has finished in the regular season since the 2009 season when they finished tied for fifth at 13-11 in MAAC play.

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles and Mountaineers close out the weekend series and regular season on Saturday. The game has been moved up a a half hour to 12:30 PM. Prior to the game, Niagara will honor its senior class with the ceremony starting at 11:55 AM.