Opening weekend on the diamond: Gierlak earns first win, baseball swept twice

By Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

While the weather began to warm up in Buffalo, the Canisius softball and baseball teams traveled south to start their 2026 seasons. In a summer-feel 52 degrees in Tennessee, Head Coach Joe Gierlak led the softball team to their first win of the season, and the first in Gierlak’s tenure as head coach.

The season began on Feb. 13, and the opening day game saw the softball team fall in five innings 11–3 to the Ohio Bobcats before winning their next three games to finish 3–1 on the weekend.

The second game of the UT Chattanooga Challenge squared the Griffs off against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders where pitching was the name of the game. Three solo homers

powered the Griffs to a 3–0 lead while junior Olivia Manchester pitched four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth, allowing two earned runs. The Griffs held the lead with three scoreless innings by a combined outing of freshmen, Mia Preuhs and Brooke Bodewes. Bodewes earned her first collegiate save, pitching a perfect two innings.

With the first win out of the way, Gierlak was pleased to see the Griffs’ success during the opening weekend. “For it to be the first weekend, for them to be as composed as they were, I was really proud of them. Their level of play didn’t change in close games, and the team looked really good in those situations,” said Gierlak on Wednesday. As they prepared for the UNCG Invitational, Gierlak knew the challenge would be tougher, but the message was still the same.

Going 1–3 on the weekend to even the overall record at 4–4, the Griffs took home a one-run victory in a high scoring affair over Bucknell on Feb. 21. The 11–10 victory stemmed from a full team effort as only one run came via the homer. “Staying in their routine, piecing the ball up, and battling keeps them in the mentality that we want to be at: put the ball in play and get after it. If you could win every game with homeruns, it’d be easy, but you have to battle and put the ball in play, which we did a lot of in the Bucknell game,” said Gierlak. A week off is just what the Griffs need as they’ll prepare for Marshall March Madness on Mar. 6–8 with four games scheduled in West Virginia.

The other team on the diamond hasn’t had the same success, as the Canisius baseball team began their season 0–6 after being swept by Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro over the last two weekends. Senior Felix Morin, however, is off to his best start with the Blue and Gold on the mound, allowing two earned runs in his first 11 innings of the season. With an ERA of 1.64, Morin tops his 2024 mark of 1.80 through his first two starts. Griffs Head Coach Matt Mazurek attributes the success to Morin’s maturity. “He’s executing because he has more overall trust in his arsenal and what he’s doing and when,” said Mazurek on Tuesday. Morin was named MAAC Pitcher of the Week on Monday to cap off his success against UNC Greensboro.

Junior JC Spinosa began his season against Appalachian State by notching four RBI and five hits and was named MAAC Player of the Week last week for the performance. Spinosa has found his groove in the batter’s box, but also in the field, as he continues to demonstrate that he’s a complete player.

After playing back to back weekends in North Carolina, the Griffs travel back south to Maryland to face the Towson Tigers this weekend. Mazurek and his staff will have to be creative with the lineup, not only to find the right nine, but with injuries factoring into how the team will look. Spinosa is dealing with a shoulder injury after a dive this past weekend, limiting his throws across the diamond while redshirt freshman Bennett Cox deals with an injury that forces him to only hit.

With softball and baseball in full swing, the battle of diamonds ramps up with each team working towards the ultimate goal: a MAAC championship.