Baseball Doubles-Up Charlotte, 10-5

February 25, 2019 Game Recap

By Canisius Athletics

The Canisius baseball team scored a season-high 10 runs on 14 hits, with five Golden Griffins posting multi-hits in the game, as the Blue and Gold earned a 10-5 victory over Charlotte Monday afternoon at Hayes Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The win, Canisius' second-straight, moves the team to 3-4 on the season, while the 49ers fell to 4-3 in 2019.

Canisius scored four times in the fifth inning to break the contest open, turning a 4-3 lead into an 8-3 advantage en route to the victory. In that frame, juniors Andy Leader (Kitchener, Ont.) and Jake Burlingame scored on a throwing error by Charlotte pitcher Bryce McGowan, and moments later, senior Conner Morro (Cheltenham, Ont.) hit a two-run homer to center that pushed redshirt-freshman Mike Steffan across the plate. After the 49ers scored in the bottom of the sixth, Steffan drove in a run with an RBI-single to left-center to make the score 9-4 in favor of the Griffs. Canisius added an insurance run in the top-half of the ninth when freshman Kyle Kush (Guelph, Ont.) scored on a double-steal to cap the day's scoring.

Steffan went 3-for-6 with a double, two runs scored an RBI in the win for Canisius, one of five Canisius hitters with multi-hit games. Morro went 2-for-5 with the two-run homer, his second career home run, and he also scored twice. Senior Mark McKenna also went 2-for-5 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored, while redshirt-junior William Krull and junior Jacob Victor also had two hits apiece in the winning effort. Victor drove in a pair of runs for the Blue and Gold, while Leader ended the afternoon scoring twice.

Canisius junior Carson Perkins (Bienfait, Sask.) picked up the win on the hill after he threw three innings in relief, where he allowed one run on four hits while fanning one and walking one. Canisius used five pitchers on the day, as sophomore Jeff DeStefano made the start. He tossed the game's first three innings and gave up three runs on three hits to go with two strikeouts. Senior Nolan Hunt, sophomore Zach Chivers and freshman David Yankowski all threw one inning in relief, and all three hurlers struck out one batter in their time on the hill.

Head Coach Matt Mazurek's Postgame Comments:
"We have been talking the last few days about being ready to hit. We've been tentative at the plate to start, but today, our guys went up there with a plan and they were much more aggressive."

"The rally in the fifth started because we were able to take advantage of their bunt defense. Joe (Joseph Preziuso) did a great job getting the bunt down the third-base line and their second baseman was late getting over to cover first. That was a great execution of small-ball."

"I thought we had a good staff day from our pitchers. Carson Perkins came in and got timely ground-ball outs. He got them to ground into two double-plays, which was key. The other guys went out there and were focused on throwing strikes, which they did."

Game Notes
• This was the ninth all-time meeting between Canisius and Charlotte, with the 49ers leading the series 6-3.
• Canisius has now won nine of its last 15 three-game series, dating back to last year.
• The 10 runs on Monday marks the 16th time under head coach Matt Mazurek where the Griffs have scored 10-or more runs in a game.
• The home run for Morro is his first since April 28, 2018 vs. Rider.
• The three hits for Steffan are a career-high. He has recorded multiple hits in each of his last two games.
• The steal by Kush in the ninth inning serves as the first in his collegiate career.
• DeStefano has fanned two batters in both of his appearances this season.