April 2, 2010
Final Stats Game 1
Final Stats Game 2 | Photo Gallery 
Siena and Niagara played 23 innings of baseball Saturday and decided very little. The two teams split a pair of extra-inning MAAC games on a spectacularly seasonable afternoon in Loudonville. Siena won its MAAC opener 3-2 in 11 innings before losing the literal nightcap 5-4 in 12 innings.
Game 1: Siena 3, Niagara 2 (11 innings)
Niagara starter Daniel Morari took a shutout and a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth before Siena rallied to tie the game with a pair of runs, and eventually walk-off with a 3-2 victory on Andy Carucci's (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) two-out RBI single in the 11th.
Carucci, Kevin Quaranto and Mike Fish each had two hits in the opener for the Saints, but pitching was the story.
Kyle Sumple started and went nine strong innings, allowing just four hits and two runs (one earned), while striking out six and walking two. Sumple gave up single runs in the third and seventh, accounting for Niagara's 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the ninth.
Fish led off the ninth with a single through the right side and came around to score on Quaranto's one-out triple. Kyle Barbato's pinch-hit sacrifice fly tied the game.
In the 11th, Quaranto again keyed the rally with a one-out double, and after Gary DerHagopian was intentionally walked and Barbato grounded out, Carucci followed with the decisive hit.
Dan Miklas tossed two perfect innings of relief to improve to 2-0 on the season. He went three scoreless innings in the second game to lower his ERA to 0.61 on the season.
Game 2: Niagara 5, Siena 4 (12 innings)
Wes Walker's RBI single in the 12th inning broke a string of six scoreless innings that prolonged a scheduled seven inning game into a 12-inning marathon, and lifted Niagara to a 5-4 victory.
The game started off with plenty of offense. The Purple Eagles scored three times in the first, chasing Siena starter Justin Brantley from the game. The Saints responded with a run in the bottom of the first on Quaranto's groundout, and the Saints scored three times in the second to take a 4-3 lead.
Fish drove in two runs with a sharp single up the middle to spark the rally, and Anthony Giansanti came all the way around to score on the play when the throw from the outfield went wide of third base.
Niagara tied the game in the top of the sixth on a double to right center off the bat of Walker. The two teams would then go six full innings and nearly two hours without scoring before Walker again arrived at the plate to deliver the critical blow.
The Purple Eagles received stellar pitching from Brian Deering who started the game at second base, but threw the final six innings without allowing a run. He gave up just two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four. Jason Cramer and Trevor Rutkowski each had three hits in the win.
Dan Paolini joined Quaranto with two hits in the second game. Miklas and Giansanti pitched scoreless relief and freshman Robert Tedesco worked 4.2 innings out of the pen sacrificing just one run.
The two teams will play the rubber game of the weekend set Saturday at noon.
