Buffalo, N.Y.—The Niagara baseball team closed the regular season on Saturday evening in Downtown Buffalo against Canisius. Niagara completed the sweep of the Golden Griffins with a 15-3 win to notch its 35th win of the season and 20th MAAC win of the season. Niagara and Fairfield split the MAAC regular season championship with the Niagara win and a Fairfield loss.
How it Happened
With one out in the top of the first inning, Brady Desjardins drew a seven pitch walk. Eric Rataczak then grounded into a fielder's choice. Rataczak then stole second to get into scoring position with two outs. Vincent Mauro then walked to put a pair of runners on for Kelly Corl. On a 2-0 pitch, Corl doubled to left center to bring home Rataczak with the first Niagara run.
Canisius tied the game at one in the bottom of the first.
The Purple Eagles took the lead back in the top of the second inning. Tommy Takayoshi singled with one out to put a runner on. Jake Hutchins then doubled to put runners on second and third with one out. Nick Groves gave Niagara a 2-1 lead on a groundout as Takayoshi came home.
Niagara blew the game open in the top of the third inning as six runs came across to score. Rataczak started the inning with a walk which was followed by Mauro being hit by a pitch. Corl then reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Rataczak came home to score on a wild pitch to make it 3-1 Niagara. Matt Ward was then hit by a pitch to load the bases once again. Nate Milk lifted a 1-1 pitch to left field to bring home Mauro on a sacrifice fly. With runners on first and second with one out, Takayoshi put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over. Hutchins notched his second hit of the game as he singled home a pair of runs to make it a 6-1 Niagara lead. Six pitches later on a 3-2 count, Groves hit his third homer of the season to give Niagara an 8-1 lead.
Rataczak added to the Niagara lead to open the fourth inning. On a 3-1 pitch he blasted a no-doubt homer over the right field wall to give Niagara a 9-1 lead.
Neither team scored again until the top of the eighth inning. Groves opened the inning with a walk but was erased on a Nick Monile fielder's choice. Rataczak then drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second. Mauro then singled to load the bases for Corl. Corl poked a 0-1 pitch to right field to bring home Monile from third. After a strikeout, Milk singled through the right side to bring home both Mauro and Rataczak with the 11th and 12th Niagara runs. After Takayoshi walked, Canisius made a pitching change. Following the pitching change, Hutchins blooped a single to right field to bring home Milk and Corl to make it 14-1 Niagara. On the next pitch, Groves doubled down the left field line to bring home Takayoshi with the 15th Niagara run.
Canisius scored twice in the bottom of the eighth but could not avoid the game ending due to the MAAC run rule.
Niagara Notes
· Maximilian Ramirez IV started on the mound for the Purple Eagles. He picked up his fourth win of the season as he went a scheduled three innings while allowing one run on run hit while striking out five batters.
· Gage Wheaton pitched two scoreless innings while striking out three batters. He did not allow a hit in his two innings of work.
· Brady Kobitowich pitched the sixth and seventh innings and did not allow a hit. He struck out two batters while notching three flyouts.
· Jack Dickinson struck out the lone batter he saw to close out the game.
· Niagara allowed just three hits while striking out 12 batters. It is the seventh time this season Niagara has allowed five or fewer hits, Niagara is 7-0 in those games.
· Both Corl and Hutchins had three hits in the win. Groves and Mauro each had two hits while eight Purple Eagles had hits.
· Rataczak hit his 15th homer of the season which is the second most in a single season in program history. He finishes the regular season with a .400 batting average which is second in the MAAC along with a MAAC leading 65 RBI.
· Hutchins drove in a career-high four runs in the win.
· Groves also drove in four RBI, it is the second time this season he has driven in four or more runs.
· Milk notched his third three-RBI game of the season.
· Niagara players notched 103 multi-RBI games in the regular season.
· Desjardins drew a walk to extend his on-base streak to 27 games.
· Niagara went 4-0 against Canisius in the regular season, while finishing 6-0 against Little Three rivals in the regular season.
· The Purple Eagles finish the MAAC schedule with seven series wins and five MAAC sweeps.
· It is the first time under the current format of the MAAC that Niagara has finished first or tied for first at the end of the MAAC regular season.
· Niagara's 20 MAAC wins are the most in program history.
· Since 2014, only five MAAC teams have notched 20 or more wins in a season. Two of the five teams came in the 2021 season in which the MAAC played 34 MAAC games.
· Niagara finished tied for first in the MAAC after being picked to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches poll.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles have earned a day one bye in the MAAC Championship, Niagara will play at 3 PM on Thursday against the higher seed of the winners of the first and second games of the tournament. The MAAC Tournament will take place at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y.
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