NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Winning by a margin of nine runs in each game, Canisius was able to take both games of today's doubleheader from the Iona College baseball team 13-4 and 12-3 at City Park to open a three-game MAAC series. The series finale has been pushed up to a 10 am start tomorrow due to the incoming forecast.

Game One
The Golden Griffin (19-11, 8-3 MAAC) scored at least a run in the first five innings of today's opener beginning with a homerun from Liam Wilson on the second pitch of the first inning with one out to put the visitors ahead. The Maroon & Gold (8-22, 3-7 MAAC) came within one run following the third inning as the hosts plated three runs in the bottom half. 

Seth Hoagland started the mini-rally with a one out homerun to right field. Two straight singles led to Brian Picone scoring on a Tyler Bruno sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. The final tally of the inning came on a Sean Breen RBI single to score Sean Scales.

Each team put a run on the board in the fourth inning as Christ Conley homered for Canisius while Dion Austrie scored on a fielding error.

After an additional run was added in the fifth, the Griffs turned a 6-4 advantage into a 13-4 victory with seven runs in the eighth. Cansiuis needed just four hits in the inning to produce the seven runs as the lineup batted around with three individual garnering two at-bats in the frame.

Conner Morro led the Griffs offensively with three RBI on two hits in addition to two runs. Austrie and Picone each registered two hits a piece for Iona. The Canisius bullpen trio of Carson Perkins, Will Frank and Andrew Kneussle combined for 5.2 innings of work with four strikeouts and no runs allowed.

Game Two
A long stretch of scoring was one again key for Canisius in the nightcap as the program recorded all 12 runs throughout four innings in the 12-3, seven-inning victory.

Ryan Stekl opened the scoring with a solo homerun in third inning and later added to his total with a grand slam in the five-run fourth inning to help put Canisius ahead 6-0 as Gage Lanning added a RBI hit earlier. The lead grew to 10-0 in the fifth as Stekl added another RBI hit.

Five hits in the bottom of the fifth helped the Gaels form a short rally towards three runs. With two outs and two runners on, Bruno drove in both with a single up the middle and later scored on a Lou Matarazzo single. However, Canisius added two more tallies in the sixth to secure the 12-3 win.

Stekl finished with six RBI on the day behind three hits, including the two homeruns, while also walking once. Morro also added another three hits to put together a six-hit day. Austrie notched two more hits for his day and joined by Matarazzo for the team-high with a pair of hits.

Following today's doubleheader, it was announced tomorrow's third and final game of the series will be pushed up to a 10 am start. Stay tuned to ICGaels.com and follow @ICGaels and @IonaBaseball for all updates.