LOUDONVILLE, NY – No. 9 hitter Tommy Takayoshi delivered the decisive three-run homer in the fourth as part of a four RBI afternoon for MAAC leader Niagara, which held off Siena Baseball for the second straight day in a 6-4 final at Connors Park.
 
Niagara (24-10, 11-0) jumped out to a commanding 6-0 advantage in the fourth on the Takayoshi blast – and survived a late Siena (6-28, 3-8) rally – to continue the best MAAC start in their program's history. The Purple Eagles have now won 14 straight MAAC Regular Season contests dating back to last year.
 
For the second day in a row, the bullpen once again quieted the top offense in the MAAC to give the Saints a chance to rally. Three relievers combined to allow just two hits over 5.1 combined shutout innings, led by a strong 3.1 from Tyler Tilton.
 
Siena slowly chipped away, scoring four unanswered runs to make things interesting late. Willie Schwarick smashed a two-out, two-run double to put the Saints on the board in the fourth, and Austin Rachiele added an RBI triple in the seventh to halve the deficit.
 
Rachiele homered with one out in the ninth for Siena, which ultimately brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the frame and the meat of the order coming up. But Steven Hospital induced back-to-back groundouts to quell the rally, as the Saints dropped to 2-9 this season in games decided by two runs or less.
 
Ryan Minckler scattered four hits and just one run over four innings of relief for Niagara which has now won eight of the last 10 in the series, albeit eight of the 10 total matchups have been decided by two runs or less or in extras.
 
Siena will look to break through in the series finale Sunday at noon.