Buffalo, N.Y.—The Niagara baseball team secured a series win on Friday afternoon with a 6-3 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins. With the win, the Purple Eagles secured the second seed in the MAAC Tournament.
How it Happened
Both teams were scoreless through the first four innings while there were just four combined hits in the first four innings with each team having two hits.
In the top of the fifth inning, Kelly Corl roped a double to left field to open the inning. Rees Kozar was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs. Matt Torreson pinch hit for the Purple Eagles and put down a sacrifice bunt to move runners to second and third. Matt Ward stepped to the plate and worked a 3-2 count after seven pitches. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Ward doubled down the left field line to bring home both runs to give Niagara a 2-0 lead. Jake Hutchins then drew a walk and Ward moved to third on a wild pitch. Nick Groves then roped a 3-2 pitch to the right side but the ball hit Hutchins for the second out of the inning. Groves, who was on first, swiped second to put runners on second and third with Brady Desjardins at the plate. On a 3-2 pitch, Desjardins blasted his sixth homer of the season to give Niagara a 5-0 lead.
Canisius scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 5-1 game. At the end of the fifth, the game went into a rain delay that lasted just over an hour.
The Griffs cut the Niagara lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Hutchins led off the top of the seventh for the Purple Eagles. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Hutchins hit his second homer of the season to give Niagara a 6-2 lead.
Canisius scored once more in the bottom of the ninth but could not push across another run.
Niagara Notes
· Preston Prince started on the mound for the Purple Eagles. He went 4+ innings while allowing one unearned run and just two hits. He struck out five batters while inducing four groundouts and one flyout.
· Steven Hospital came out of the pen and got the lone batter he faced out.
· Noah Richardson picked up his sixth win of the season as he got a pair of outs in the fifth inning.
· Zach Cameron pitched the final 3.1 innings for the Purple Eagles to pick up his 10th win of the season. He allowed one unearned run while notching one strikeout, four groundouts, and five flyouts. Cameron leads the MAAC in saves and has tied the program record for saves in a season. He is tied with Tyler Addison who recorded 10 in 2006.
· Six different Purple Eagles notched a hit in the win.
· Desjardins notched his 13th multi-RBI game of the season as he drove in three runs in the win. He also extended his on-base streak to 26 games. It is the 10th straight game that he has notched a hit.
· Ward drove in two runs in the win. It is the fifth time this season that he has driven in two or more runs this season.
· Niagara is 19-4 in MAAC play this season and has secured the second seed in the MAAC Tournament. 19 MAAC wins is already the most in program history.
· The Purple Eagles are 34-15 overall along with 22-12 on the road this season.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles close out the regular season on Saturday as they look to complete a three-game sweep of Canisius. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 PM in Downtown Buffalo.
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