May 27, 2021

Duffy’s Complete Game Lifts Baseball Past Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, Conn. _ Matt Duffy threw Canisius’ first complete game in Metro Atlantic Conference championship play since 2014 as fourth-seeded Canisius defeated top-seeded Fairfield Stags, 4-1 at Alumni Diamond in Fairfield, Conn.

The complete game was Canisius’ first in postseason play since Rohn Pierce in 2014 against Siena. It is also the first complete game postseason victory by a Griffs pitcher since assistant coach Garrett Cortright pitched a one-hitter against Marist in 2013.

Duffy (Burlington, Ont.) allowed one run on four hits while striking out a career-high 10 batters en route to his third victory of the season. Of Duffy’s 100 pitches thrown on the day, 73 went for strikes.

For Canisius (20-14, 17-13 MAAC), Jacob Victor had a game-high three hits, one of which was a double. Jake Burlingame and Max Grant each logged multi-hit performances.

Next Canisius suffered a walk-off loss by a 4-3 score to Rider.

Justin Guerrera hit his conference-leading 12th home run for the Stags (35-2, 33-1 MAAC). Mike Caruso, Matt Venuto and Owen Wosleger all had one hit each.

The scoring began in the bottom of the fourth when Guerrera led off the inning with a home run to left field.

In the next half inning, Burlingame used the wind and sun to his advantage as Wosleger lost track of a two-out fly ball in left field, allowing Burlingame to double Jacob Victor home from first base, tying the game 1-1.

In the bottom of the fifth Grant (Fredericton, NB) made an impressive defensive play at second, preventing Fairfield from regaining the lead as they stranded runners at third and second. Grant ranged to his left, fielded the ball and threw to first without a pivot to get the Stags runner out.

Canisius scored three times with two outs in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead. Carlin Dick started the rally by singling through the right side, allowing Grant to score from second on the play as he eluded a tag at home plate. Kyle Kush (Guelph, Ont.) scored on an RBI single by Jacob Victor before Dick (Abbotsford, BC) crossed home plate after a wild pitch.

Fairfield appeared to have cut into the Canisius lead in the bottom half of the seventh, but a two-out home run by the Stags called back after the hitter did not step on home plate, keeping the score at 4-1.

After allowing the home run to Guerrera, Duffy retired 17 of the final 20 batters he faced, with the lone runners reaching on a hit by pitch, a single and the called back home run.

Michael Sansone pitched 5 2/3 for the Stags. The left-hander surrendered four runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out eight. Sansone was the losing pitcher of record for the first time this season.

Head Coach Matt Mazurek said: “This was a good game that saw good pitching and timely hitting and good defense. We had an amazing outing from Matt Duffy that not only met, but exceeded our expectations. The composure Matt carries is something special for a freshman and he had all of his pitches working for him today. We could not have asked for anything better out of him.”

GAME NOTES

• All four of the Griffs runs came with two outs, as the team batted 7-for-15 (.467) in two-out situations.

• With his 10 strikeouts, Duffy has now fanned 29 batters in his last 26 1/3 innings of work. He has struck out at least four batters in each of his last five outings.

• Duffy is the first Canisius pitcher with 10-plus strikeouts in a game since Will Frank, also in a complete game, at Iona on March 28.

• Burlingame extended his on-base streak to 27 consecutive contests after a pitch hit him in his first at-bat. His streak is now the longest since Liam Wilson (Ayr, Ont.) reached base in 41 straight games in 2018.

• Grant had two hits, marking the third time he has had a multi-hit performance over his last four games.

Against Rider ... Jacob Martins (Richmond Hill, Ont.) had a two-run double to right field in the second inning, giving Canisius a 2-0 advantage.