Buffalo, N.Y.—The Niagara baseball team opened its final series of the regular season in blowout fashion defeating Canisius 17-9 in Downtown Buffalo on Thursday.
How it Happened
The Purple Eagles opened the scoring in the first inning. After Nick Groves drew a walk to open the game, Brady Desjardins singled to put runners on first and second. After a popout, both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch with one out. With the count 1-0, Gavin Schrader brought home Groves from third with a sacrifice fly to left field. Four pitches later, Vincent Mauro blasted a 3-0 pitch over the field fence to give Niagara a 3-0 lead.
After the Griffs were held scoreless in the bottom of the first, the Purple Eagle bats went back to work in the top of the second. Kelly Corl opened the inning with a single and swiped second after a flyout. Matt Ward drew a five-pitch walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Both runners then moved up on a wild pitch with Groves at the plate. Groves drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Desjardins. Desjardins grounded out but brought home the fourth Purple Eagle run. Two pitches later, Eric Rataczak with two outs and two on blasted his 14th homer of the year to make it a 7-0 Niagara lead.
Niagara once again held the Griffs off the board in the bottom of the second before putting up a pair of runs in the top of the third. With one out in the inning, Corl reached on an error and then moved to second on a walk by Rees Kozar. After a flyout, both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Groves then drew his third walk of the game to load the bases. Desjardins stepped to the plate and laced the first pitch he saw to left field to bring home a pair of runners to make it 9-0.
The Purple Eagles added to their lead in the top of the fourth. Schrader opened the inning with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Mauro then singled but was thrown out at second as Schrader moved to third base. With one out, Nick Monile grounded out to bring home Schrader with the 10th Niagara run.
Canisius got on the board in the bottom of the fifth as the Niagara lead was cut to 10-3.
Desjardins opened the sixth inning with a single on a 1-0 pitch and was brought home by Rataczak on a double to left center to make it 11-3. Following a pitching change, Schrader reached on a fielder's choice but Ratczak came home to score on a Canisius error. After Schrader advanced to third on a wild pitch, Mauro reached on an infield single to bring home Schrader with the 13th Niagara run.
Canisius scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Niagara lead to 13-6.
The Purple Eagles responded in the top of the seventh as they took an 11 run lead. Ward opened the inning with a walk but was wiped out on a fielder's choice by Groves. Desjardins was then hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout, Schrader singled off the pitcher's foot to move Groves to third. Groves came home on the play after an error. With runners on second and third, Mauro blasted his second homer of the game down the left-field line to give Niagara a 17-6 lead.
The Griffs scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth but could not mount any more of a comeback.
Niagara Notes
· Blake MacMillan started on the mound for the Purple Eagles. He went four innings while not allowing a run. He allowed just one hit and struck out four while getting seven flyouts and a groundout. This season he has pitched eight innings over four games and has allowed just one hit while striking out 10.
· Nick Veselinovic went 2.1 innings out of the bullpen while picking up his second win of the season. He allowed no runs on three hits while striking out one.
· With his four RBI, Rataczak now has 64 RBI this season. 64 RBI in a season is a new program record. The previous record was 63 and was held by Josh McCurdy, McCurdy set the record in 2003. It is the fifth time Rataczak has driven in four or more runs this season. He currently leads in the MAAC in hitting with a .404 average, he also leads the MAAC in RBI.
· Mauro hit two homers in a game for the second time in his career. The last time he did was May 9, 2023, in a non-conference game against Canisius at John P. Bobo Field. Mauro went 4-6 at the plate with six RBI. It was his first four-hit game of the season. He tied his career high with six RBI.
· Both Desjardins and Rataczak notched three hits while Corl tallied his 13th multi-hit game of the season with two hits.
· Niagara drew eight walks in the game, Groves walked three times while Ward and Schrader each walked twice.
· Desjardins improved his on-base streak to 25 games while also extending his hit streak to nine games. Groves extended his on-base streak to 24 games.
· Niagara hit three homers in the win, Niagara is 11-2 this season when hitting two or more homers.
· The Purple Eagles outhit Canisius 13-9, Niagara is 25-6 this season when notching more hits than its opponents.
· It is the 17th time this season Niagara scored 10 or more runs. In those 17 games, Niagara is 16-1.
· The Purple Eagles sit in second place in the MAAC. After Thursday's results, Niagara is one game back of first-place Fairfield. If Niagara were to win the final two games of the series with Canisius and Fairfield were to lose both games to Quinnipiac, Niagara would clinch the top seed. Niagara is one game up on Rider who sits in third at 17-5. With a Niagara win or a Rider loss on Friday, Niagara secures a top-two finish in the MAAC standings.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles and Griffs play the second game of the series on Friday with first pitch scheduled for noon in Downtown Buffalo.
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