By: Vinnie Christiano III, Sports Reporter
Over the weekend, the Canisius softball team made the most of its series against Quinnipiac, sweeping the Bobcats in back-to-back doubleheaders to improve their MAAC winning streak to eight games.
The team’s series against Marist, which was scheduled for last week, was canceled due to a COVID-19 issue within the Red Foxes’ program and Canisius was given four conference wins as a result. Despite only playing four games, official MAAC scoring has the Griffs on an impressive streak.
Canisius (16–9) travelled to Hamden, Conn. for its last out-of-town series of the regular season. In the first game of the weekend, the Griffs jumped out to a 4–0 lead by the end of the third inning. Despite a home run in the sixth by Quinnipiac (7–21) sophomore Katherine Rodriguez, the Bobcats were unable to generate any sort of comeback and the Griffs won the first contest of the series 4–1. Senior pitcher Emily Nicosia got the victory in the circle with four strikeouts on the day.
In the second game on day one, the Canisius offense exploded for 13 runs, winning the game by mercy rule in five innings. The day was full of all-around impressive performances. Both Morgan Altman and Kara Paradowski went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Paradowski followed that up with three stolen bases, adding to her team and league-high stolen bases total for the season.
On day two, the Griffs stayed hot, kicking the game off with a 2 RBI home run from Gianna Fazzolari in the top of the first. In the following three innings, Canisius took a 7–0 lead with a four-run fourth inning. The Bobcats put together a comeback run, scoring four runs themselves in the fifth inning cutting the gap to three, but their run stopped there. Megan Giese started the game for the Griffs and got the win, while Alexis Churchill came in midway through the fifth inning. Churchill finished the game with four strikeouts and got the save.
In the final game of the series, the Griffs defense was the story, shutting out the Bobcats to win 4–0. Churchill pitched the first three innings for the win, and senior Emily Nicosia pitched the remaining four to close the game out. Quinnipiac recorded eight hits but no runners crossed home, despite the team leaving two runners on base in each of the final three innings.
The Griffs will look to build off of the victory in two consecutive home series. After a doubleheader against Niagara on Wednesday, the Griffs will face Rider at home for a four-game set on Saturday and Sunday.