TRENTON, N.J. ? Canisius College junior Shayne Willson gave up the go-ahead home run to Rider in the top of the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Willson won the game for himself and extended the Golden Griffins' season.
Willson's one-out, two-RBI single gave the Golden Griffin baseball team a 9-8 walk-off win over Rider in an elimination game at the MAAC Championship at Waterfront Park on Friday afternoon.
The Golden Griffins advance to tonight's elimination game (scheduled for 7 p.m.) and will play the loser of the game between Manhattan and Marist, which was scheduled for a first pitch of 3:30 p.m.
Check GoGriffs.com for the latest information on the start time of tonight's game and for a live, audio broadcast.
Willson led Canisius (34-21) with three hits in the game, his second consecutive three-hit game in the tournament. Junior Perry Silverman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI and a home run. Sophomore Steve McQuail had three RBI in the leadoff spot for the Griffs.
After Rider (26-23) took a 3-1 lead with a two-run fourth inning, the Griffs responded with three in the fifth and three in the six and took their first lead of the postseason. Silverman homered to make it 3-2 as Ian Choy and Kevin Mailloux each had RBI singles to put Canisius up 4-3.
The Griffs pushed their lead to 7-3 in the sixth on an RBI groundout from Silverman and two-RBI single from McQuail.
Rider chipped away at the lead with a solo homer from Maurice Williams in the seventh making the score 7-4. In the eighth, the Broncs got a pinch-hit RBI single from Ryan Murphy to make it 7-5 and Sean Olson hit a three-run homer to left to put Rider ahead 8-7.
The Griffs hit into an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, and they also loaded the bases in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Brian Gibbs led off with a single, Kevin Mahoney singled to left and Branson Joseph was hit by a pitch. Down 0-2 in the count, Willson singled a ball through the right side, scoring Gibbs and Mahoney and give the Griffs the win.
Senior Alex MacKenzie started for the Griffs. He went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits and one walk while striking out five. Josh Marshall threw a scoreless 1.2 innings of relief. Ryan McGorman allowed four runs in 1.2 innings of relief and Willson (3-2) picked up the win.
Game Notes: Canisius won a postseason game for the second consecutive season, winning the losers' bracket game on Friday afternoon in both years... Gibbs is now 4-for-13 as a pinch hitter... In his last seven appearances, Marshall has a 2.43 ERA, covering 11.1 innings pitched... Canisius defeated Rider for the third time in four games on the season... Sophomore Brian Burton had two hits on the day and now has two hits in his last two games played... Canisius had its second walk-off win of the season, also recording a walk-off win against Fairfield on May 9.
