FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Baseball team came one out away from jumping into the first place spot in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), but could not get that final out as Canisius turned a 3-2 deficit into an 8-3 victory scoring six runs in the final frame. The Griffs were helped by a pair of errors in the frame and a Jake Burlingame homer that opened up the floodgates on an overcast evening.
The Stags (26-17, 12-6 MAAC) got all three of their runs in the sixth as they had to come back from a 2-0 hole.
Anthony Boselli started the frame with a single and
Dan Ryan followed with a double to put two runners into scoring position. Boselli would score on a wild pitch to give Fairfield their first run of the game and cut their deficit in half.
Dylan Reynolds would tie the game with a RBI single through the right side and would advance to third after a walk and a fielder's choice. With runners on the corners,
Griffin Watson broke for second on a stolen base and forced a run down as Canisius threw over to second. Watson was able to coax a throw back to first and slid in safely. While Watson was in the run down, Reynolds sprinted home from third and would score with the stolen base to give the Stags a 3-2 lead.
It looked like that was more than enough for Fairfield reliever
Eli Oliphant who cruised during his first 4.2 innings, with the only base runner he allowed coming from an error. It was a miscue that would be the difference of the game as Oliphant got the hitter to ground one weakly, but a fielding error would keep the game alive for the Griffs. After a hit batter, Canisius' Joseph Preziuso hit a long fly ball to the left field wall that dropped in for a double, scoring both the tying and go-ahead runs. Burlingame capped the scoring with a three-run homer to right.
The Stags mustered only six hits against the Griffs with
Tom Ryan picking up a pair. Only one of the eight runs that Canisius scored were earned.
The Stags will look to bounce back with a couple of mid-week games on the ledger, starting with a meeting against NJIT on Tuesday at 3:30pm.
