BOX SCORE
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- A late-inning rally by the Morehead State baseball team ended up not making enough of a difference as the Eagles dropped the first game of a four-game weekend set with Canisius, 11-4, at Allen Field Friday.
The Eagles slipped to 1-4, while the Golden Griffins from Buffalo, N.Y., edged up to 3-2.
After falling behind 6-0 heading to the seventh, MSU cut its deficit in half, thanks to a two-run round-tripper by sophomore center-fielder
Ryley Preece, but in the end the visitors' pitching staff stymied MSU to the tune of 14 strikeouts. Following the seventh, Canisius tacked on five more in its final two plate chances.
Preece's homer was his first of the year as he also has now reached base in all five games and has a three-game hitting streak. Second baseman
Ashton Roy led the Eagles with two hits, including an RBI double in the seventh prior to Preece's blast.
Canisius' bats produced 16 hits, including its top three in the batting order combining to go 9-for-17 with seven runs scored. Three Griffin pitchers sat down 14 Eagle hitters via the strikeout, while the Eagle pitchers had five strikeouts but issued nine walks.
Eagle starter
Luke Helton (0-1) was a tough luck loser, despite once retiring 11 straight Canisius batters. He allowed just four runs in 5.1 innings. Head coach
Mik Aoki deployed seven additional pitchers throughout the day.
Matt Duffy improved to 2-0 for CC, fanning seven Eagles in the first six frames.
Four of the Eagles' seven hits were for extra-bases, including doubles by
Nick Gooden and
Colton Becker.
The teams are slated for a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. Game one is scheduled for seven innings with game two set for the full nine.
