Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Despite not putting a runner on base over the final six innings, the Manhattan College softball team nearly came away with a victory in its first game of the 2010 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships on Thursday. However, Canisius (33-17), the top-seeded hosts, used a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to post a 5-4 victory over the fourth-seeded Lady Jaspers (25-22-1) at the Demske Sports Complex.
The game began more than an hour after its scheduled 2 p.m. start because the previous game between Iona and Niagara had a 30-minute rain delay, then went into extra innings before the Gaels won. It continued drizzling throughout the first two innings of the Manhattan-Canisius game, but the teams played through the rain without interruption.
The late start didn't seem to phase the Lady Jaspers, though, as Manhattan scored all four of its runs in the top of the first. After Kristina Walraven (Thompson Ridge, N.Y.) started the game with an infield single, Monica Evangelista (Cedar Grove, N.J.) was safe when Canisius pitcher Caroline Main overthrew first on her sacrifice bunt. Melissa Donnelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) walked to load the bases, then Jaci Rahey (West Milford, N.J.) lifted a sacrifice fly to right that gave the Lady Jaspers 1-0 lead. Nicole Michel (Massapequa, N.Y.) followed with an RBI single to left, then another Canisius error on a sacrifice bunt brought in another run. Michel scored Manhattan's third unearned run of the inning on a passed ball. After Melissa Cascio (Kings Park, N.Y.) singled, Babcock was picked off third on the back end of a failed double steal to end the inning.
Manhattan held its 4-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth, when the Griffs cut their deficit in half. Amanda Cannizzo reached on a leadoff walk, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Lauren Falzone followed with an RBI single that brought in Cannizzo with the first Canisius run. After Lauren Hope walked, Michelle Fridey lifted a long fly ball to right field that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, allowing Falzone to score. Lizzy Gatto was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Donnelly got Katie Lancellotti to pop up to end the inning.
Three outs away from beating the Griffs in the MAAC Tournament for just the third time in 12 all-time meetings, the Lady Jaspers were unable to hold off a Canisius rally in the bottom of the seventh. Katie Medina singled leading off the inning, then Fridey made it a one-run game with an RBI double to the gap in left center. After Gatto grounded out, Lancellotti was hit by a pitch and Emily Helbig singled to load the bases. Cannizzo was up next, and she lifted a bloop single over second base that brought home two runs, giving Canisius the 5-4 walk-off victory.
Manhattan had just three hits in the game, all in the first inning, as Walraven, Michel and Cascio all went 1-for-3. Walraven also scored a run, while Michel added a run scored and an RBI. Donnelly (7-11) pitched all 6.1 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with one strikeout and five walks.
For Canisius, Fridey and Gatto each had two hits. Fridey was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs, while Gatto went 2-for-3 at the plate. Cannizzo finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs, and Falzone put together a 1-for-2 effort with a run scored and an RBI. After giving up four runs (one earned) and three hits in the first, Caroline Main (16-6) was perfect over the final six innings. She struck out three and walked one.
The Lady Jaspers now move into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament, and they will take on Niagara (21-21) at 1 p.m. on Friday in the first elimination game. The Manhattan-Niagara winner then plays the loser of Friday's first game between Canisius and Iona (26-24) in another elimination contest at 3 p.m.
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