MAAC play looms as baseball preps for Mountaineers

By: Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

A 3–9 start to the season wasn’t how Canisius baseball Head Coach Matt Mazurek wanted to open MAAC play. As the team prepares for Mount Saint Mary’s this weekend, however, the mud in their cleats and grass stains on their jerseys tell the story of a team that is far from sitting on the couch in May.

The Griffs took two of three from Towson two weeks ago before opening the series last weekend at Delaware with a 7–5 victory, finishing nonconference play strong. The difference in the win over Delaware came from redshirt junior Thomas Zwirecki, with his grand slam in the third inning to ensure the Griffs stayed ahead the rest of the game. 

After going 3–3 in the six games, the Griffs regained their confidence as they turn to conference play and their first opponent, the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers. Mazurek wants the lesson of high energy in the dugout to carry into the opening MAAC weekend against the Mount. “The energy of the group, especially in the games that we won was amazing, and [the coaching staff] tr[ies] to teach them that lesson of keeping the energy up, front to back, everyone in the dugout whether you are in the lineup or not in the lineup,” said Mazurek on Tuesday.

The Mountaineers come into this week with a 6–8 overall record and 1–2 to begin MAAC play after falling in two of three games to Iona last weekend. A doubleheader on Friday due to inclement weather caused the games between the Mountaineers and Gaels to be played off campus, but the Mount won on Sunday when the teams returned to Straw Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, Md. Last season, the Mountaineers finished 9–10 at home and only faced the Griffs in Buffalo, taking the first game 6–4, but falling in the other two by a combined score of 22–4. Mazurek and his team look to jumpstart MAAC play with wins, because every win counts in conference play.

On opening day, the Mountaineers shocked the baseball world by taking down the Missouri Tigers, an SEC school – the best conference in collegiate baseball – 8–5 in Fort Myers, Fla. Missouri has only lost once since their opening day loss to the Mount, posting a 15–2 record and making the Mountaineers victory even more impressive. “Some teams that were not projected to win a series, won the series. That’s how our conference is going to go, so wherever you can leverage three games in a weekend, you have to take advantage of it because that could be a deciding factor of a playoff spot or not,” said Mazurek.

How does this affect Canisius? Mazurek and the Griffs know that conference play can bring any kind of baseball, but the Mount has the team and capability to rebound from the losses to Iona with a crushing blow to the Griffs as they start the journey to May for the MAAC championship. The way Mazurek is teaching the Griffs this season as they prepare for the Mount is never be content. “The years of old thinking we’re going to walk into a series and roll it, we can’t think that way. We have to fight for everything; every inning, every out until the last one and never be content,” said Mazurek.

With one month completed in the baseball season and two left to play, the Griffs are ready for the MAAC opponents that await them with each weekend ahead. Taking a page from Italy in the World Baseball Classic, Mazurek knows that every pitch matters and once the bat cracks alive on Friday, the battle to bring home a championship begins to see the light of day.

Via Joe Lehrman