2009 MAAC Baseball Championship
Game 1: No. 2 Canisius (33-20) vs. No. 3 Marist (28-25)
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Waterfront Park ? Trenton, N.J.
Live Internet Broadcast: Available through GoGriffs.com

BATTING PRACTICE

• Canisius is playing in the MAAC Championship for the third consecutive season and is seeking the program's first berth in the NCAA Tournament.
• Canisius finished the regular season with a 33-20 overall record and 16-8 record in the conference, earning the number two seed in this weekend's tournament.
• Canisius coach Mike McRae is making his fifth appearance in the MAAC tournament in the past seven seasons.
• Canisius has won 18 of its last 22 games since a 6-2 loss to Iona in the opening game of the three-game series with the Gaels on April 10.
• Canisius has hit 85 home runs on the season, which ranks as the most in program history as well as the most in MAAC history. The Griffs broke the program record of 65 homers from the 2008 season and the MAAC record of 66 home runs by Le Moyne from the 2004 season.
• Canisius ranks 22nd in the country in home runs, led by senior Kevin Mahoney who ranks sixth in the country with 22 home runs on the season.
• Mahoney was named co-MAAC Player of the Week on Monday.
• Starting with the March 25 game against Buffalo, Canisius has posted a 4.76 ERA during those 32 games.
• Canisius also has committed a total of 30 errors in those 32 games and has a fielding percentage of .976 since March 25.
• In 53 games this season, Canisius has used 50 different batting orders and 44 different defensive lineups.
  

LOOK BACK AT SEASON SERIES

• Canisius opened the MAAC schedule at home against Marist, dropping the opening two games of the series before winning the third game. The Red Foxes won a pair of one-run games (2-1 in 11 innings, 6-5) and the Griffs won 18-0 in the series finale.
• The next weekend, Canisius took two of three games at defending league champion Rider. The Griffs swept the Saturday doubleheader ? 14-9 in 10 innings and 18-7 ? and lost the Sunday game 4-2.
• Manhattan took two of three from Canisius at the end of April in Riverdale, N.Y. The Jaspers scored 11 runs in each of their victories while Canisius won the middle game of the series with a 9-2 victory.
  

CANISIUS IN THE POSTSEASON

• Canisius is making its third consecutive postseason appearance and fourth appearance in the MAAC Tournament in program history.
• Canisius was the No. 4 seed in 2007, losing to Le Moyne and Marist. The Griffs were the No. 1 seed last season, losing the opener to Rider, winning the first postseason game in program history in an elimination game with Manhattan, before falling to Siena.
• Canisius and Manhattan are the only schools to make each of the past three MAAC Championships.
  

CANISIUS OFFENSE HEATING UP

• The Golden Griffins scored at least 11 runs in each of the three wins over Niagara last weekend, the first time this season Canisius has scored 10-plus runs in all three conference games.
• Canisius has scored at least 10 runs in six of the last 11 games and has double-digit runs in 17 games on the season.
• Canisius is hitting .342 as a team in the month of May.
  

MARIST SCOUT

• Marist enters Thursday's game with a 28-25 overall record and 15-9 record in the MAAC. The Red Foxes have won four of their last five games.
• Kyle Meyer leads the team in batting average (.338) and led all of the MAAC with a .453 batting average in 22 conference games.
• Josh Rickards has pitched in the No. 1 spot in the rotation for Marist and is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in eight conference starts.
• The Red Foxes have five regular players and two other players with 28 games played who are hitting above .300 on the season. Marist has hit 34 homers on the year.
• In conference games, Marist was third in the league in batting average (.308), second in pitching (4.42) and eighth in fielding percentage (.943).
  

MANHATTAN SCOUT

• Manhattan enters the postseason with a 34-16 record and 18-6 record in the MAAC. The Jaspers won the regular-season title for the second consecutive season and are in the MAAC Tournament for the seventh consecutive year.
• Three Manhattan players are hitting above .400, led by Mike McCann at .407 with 13 home runs and 58 RBIs. Kevin Nieto is tied with Ruben Perez with a .406 batting average. Nieto has 70 runs scored, 13 home runs and 54 RBI in 43 games and hasn't played since the beginning of May.
• The Jaspers rank eighth nationally in runs per game (9.5).
• Mike Gazzola has been the top Manhattan starter, posting a 6-1 record and 4.48 ERA in 13 starts. Tom Moran serves as the team's closer (5-1, 23 appearances, six saves, 5.27 ERA).
  

RIDER SCOUT

• Rider enters the postseason with a 26-21 overall record and went 14-10 in the MAAC. The Broncs won a tiebreaker with Niagara for the fourth and final spot in the postseason. Rider has won four straight and six of eight.
• The defending league champion, Rider is making its seventh postseason appearance in 12 years in the MAAC.
• Three Rider players are hitting above .321, led by Sean Olson. The Broncs' catcher leads the team with a .350 batting average, 11 home runs and 55 RBIs.
• James Hayes is second on the squad with a .331 batting average, first with 53 runs scored and 26 steals. Hayes is also the team's closer with seven saves, a 2-1 record and 4.19 ERA in 16 appearances.
• Jimmer Kennedy has made 51 career starts on the mound for the Broncs, who have three pitchers with 30 or more starts in their careers.