By: Andrew Crooks
The weekend of February 25th and 26th kicked off the season for the Canisius College Baseball team. In a trip to Charleston, South Carolina the Golden Griffins played four non-conference opponents in the Swig and Swine Classic. On Saturday, the Griffs kicked off their season against both Boston College and Merrimack College. In their first game of the season against Boston College, the Golden Griffins lost 3-0.
Junior Matt Duffy pitched well for Canisius with four and 1/3 innings pitched, registering seven strikeouts and no runs allowed. His preseason Pitcher of the Year award in the MAAC showed with his successful outing to start the season.
Unfortunately for Canisius, Boston College’s offense could not be stopped as they recorded 3 runs in the late innings to propel them to the win.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Canisius offense showed their dominance. In an 11-4 win against Merrimack College, the team produced twice as many hits as the Warriors.
Canisius was led by redshirt sophomore Josh Niles and senior Ryan Weiss, who recorded seven of the total eleven RBIs on the day for the Griffins. Niles recorded his first homerun of his collegiate career and Weiss had his third multi-home run game of his collegiate career. Sophomore Aaron Duffy recorded the win in his five innings pitched with only two earned runs.
The Golden Griffins also had another double header on Sunday to finish off their first weekend of the 2023 season. They led their morning with a 6-1 loss against Ball State.
The Golden Griffins started off strong with junior Max Grant and senior Mike DeStefano both doubling in the first. Grant, the preseason Player of the Year in the MAAC, ended up scoring the lone run in the first for the Griffins. The Cardinals could not be stopped late in the game as they scored all six of their runs after the 4th inning.
Canisius was able to show their resilience as they won the second game of the doubleheader for the second time this weekend. The Golden Griffins had a phenomenal team hitting performance in the 6-4 win versus George Mason.
Eight different batters in this game recorded a hit, the two biggest being a three-run homer from sophomore Cole Sebastian and a go-ahead pinch hit single from junior Carlin Dick to give Canisius the lead in the bottom of the seventh. In his two and a third innings of scoreless relief, sophomore Peyton Consigli picked up the win.
For their next bouts, the Golden Griffins will head to Richmond, Virginia to play in the Central Virginia Classic on March 3rd to March 5th. There they will face VCU, Richmond and William & Mary.
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