POMONA, N.Y. (May 22, 2024) – An eighth inning run from
David Stirpe, combined with timely hits and three effective pitchers, secured Mount St. Mary's baseball its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) victory and the program's first postseason win in 16 years. The Mountaineers defeated Canisius by a 4-3 score.
The Mount advances in the winner's bracket, facing top seeded Fairfield Thursday (May 23) at 11 AM from Clover Stadium.
During the game, Mount St. Mary's second baseman
JT Landwehr etched his name in the NCAA record book, getting plunked in the arm in the third inning to set the Division I single season record for getting hit by a pitch. Landwehr's record of 38 surpassed the total set by Scott Davis of Delaware (2012) and Brian Harris of Vanderbilt (2010).
Beginning with
Luke Pryor, the team's pitching helped carry the freight all afternoon long. After the graduate student opened the game with two scoreless innings, he handed the ball over to
Kyle Speas. He would throw 3 1/3 innings before
Deven Sheerin finished the contest on the bump. Together, the group allowed no earned runs and struck out eight Golden Griffins. Sheerin – already the team's record holder for K's in a season – punched out his 100
th batter of the year during the contest.
At the dish,
Shane Wockley cranked his 10
th home run of the year to give the Mount its first lead of the day.
Scott Seeker and Efrain Correa delivered RBIs as well. Wockley and Seeker tallied four of the team's seven hits.
Canisius got on the board first, capitalizing on an error to go up 1-0 in the third frame. Mount countered with an instant response on Seeker's RBI single. They would go up 3-1 on Wockley's homer and Correa's RBI groundout.
With Sheerin on the hill and the Mountaineers up, the Golden Griffins mounted a rally to load the bases in the seventh inning. Trent Rumley smacked a double that appeared destined to clear the bases, but the ball glanced off the foul pole for a ground-rule double. Sheerin induced the strikeout to keep the game at a 3-3 tie.
In the bottom of the eighth, Stirpe reached on an error and Wockley singled him into scoring position.
Aiden Tierney pinch hit and sacrificed the runners over. With
Evan Smith batting, the Golden Griffins threw a wild pitch that sent Stirpe home for what proved to be the game winning run. Sheerin ensured the Mountaineers stayed ahead, retiring the heart of the Canisius lineup in order.
The win is the program's first since they defeated Monmouth in the Northeast Conference Championship on May 24, 2008.
