NIAGARA FALLS, NY – For the second time on the day, the Iona College baseball program avoided elimination with a winning score of 5-2 with the evening victory coming against the third seeded and host Canisius at the MAAC Baseball Championship.

The Gaels (24-25) advanced to the semifinal round of the MAAC Baseball Championship bracket on Saturday, scheduled for a 12:00 pm game against the top seeded Stags of Fairfield. The winner advances to face No. 2 Marist at 3:30 pm.

A combined pitching effort helped push the Maroon & Gold to victory as freshman Stephen Hansen earned his second victory of the season with 5.1 innings of work before Andrew Camiolo earned the save by logging the final 3.2 innings of work. Hansen allowed just four hits and one earned run before Camiolo struck out five in the relief effort.

Iona scored the first five runs of the game, starting with a pair in the top of the second. Matt Byrne was credited with the first RBI on a ground out to plate Lou Matarazzo before an infield single scored Sean Scales.

In the next inning, Fran Kinsey pushed the Gaels ahead 3-0 by scoring on a single to left field from Sean Breen. Kinsey continued his strong outing with a RBI single in the fifth to score Seth Hoagland before scoring on a fielding error following a single from Scales.

The Griffs scored a run in back-to-back innings, the fifth and sixth, that included a solo homerun from Gage Lanning to left field in the sixth. However, the pitching effort of Hansen and Camiolo was able to limit the damage and end a 14-game losing streak for the Maroon & Gold to Canisius.

Stay tuned to ICGaels.com and follow on Twitter (@ICGaels) for updates throughout Saturday as first pitch against the Stags is scheduled for 12:00 pm and can be viewed on MAAC.TV.