Siddall hits 10th homer of spring

Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) hit his 10th homer as the Canisius Griffs lost 10-9 to the Monmouth Hawks.

The Griffs got off to a good start in its weekend series against the Monmouth Hawks with a 6-0 win on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks evened the season series at 1-1 in the second game of the doubleheader as Monmouth used late inning heroics to defeat Canisius 3-1 to end the day.

In the first game of the doubleheader … Brett Siddall (Windsor, Ont.) remained hot at the plate as he went 3-for-4 recording two RBIs to lead the offense. Siddall did the rest with a double to centre field to bring in a pair and help secure the 6-0 win.

With Siddall’s two RBIs, he now has eight RBI in his last five games.

In Game 2 … pitching was once again on display. Devon Stewart (Maple Ridge, BC) went the distance but didn’t receive the run support to earn the win. Stewart pitched six innings, allowed eight hits and three earned runs, but wracked up a season-high nine strikeouts in the outing.

Connor Panas (North York, Ont.) had the team’s lone RBI of the game as he 0-for-2 with one walk. The middle of the lineup was the only ones to earn a hit, as Siddall recorded a hit.

With Siddall on third and the bases loaded, Panas drove in a run as he grounded to second base. The Griffs threatened to add more but stranded two runners to end the frame.

The Hawks pulled ahead in the sixth as the squad tallied two runs on three hits to sink the Griffs, 3-1.

Jake Lumley (Windsor, Ont.) extended his hitting streak in game one to 10, but had it snapped in the final game of the series.

And in the finale of the three-game series … Canisius scored two runs in the ninth but the rally came up short as the Griffs fell to Monmouth, 10-9. With the loss the Griffs fell to 20-24 and 9-6 in the MAAC.

Siddall did the damage in the ninth as Lumley singled to left field and Siddall smacked his 10th home run of the season to bring in two.

J.P. Stevenson (Hunter River, PEI) got the start for the Griffs and pitched just 1 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and five runs, three earned, in the outing.Iannick Remillard (Valleyfield, Que.) was roughed up for the final two innings as he allowed five hits, and four runs and took the loss in the game.

Panas led the offense with three RBIs going 3-for-3, while Siddall had a pair of hits for Canisius.

Following a pitching change in the fifth, Panas singled to left to drive in another run.

With the score tied 5-5, the Griffs didn’t relent in the sixth as Panas struck again with a single to right field as he drove in a pair to give the Griffs their first lead of the game, 7-5.

Monmouth went on to score a run in the seventh and exploded for four in the eighth to take the lead and hold it the rest of the way.

Canisius now comes home to get ready for a mid-week matchup against the Cornell Big Red before hosting another MAAC matchup against Marist Red Foxes this coming weekend.