LOUDONVILLE, NY – Nobody's perfect. Niagara isn't any longer in MAAC action because Arnad Mulamekic nearly was. Mulamekic no-hit the top-ranked offense in the conference through the first seven innings to pitch Siena Baseball to a 5-0 shutout of the MAAC leading Purple Eagles in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Connors Park.
 
Mulamekic matched a career-high with eight strikeouts while twirling a career-best 8.1 innings to erase a 14-game MAAC Regular Season win streak for Niagara (24-11, 11-1), which suffered its first conference regular season setback since May 14 of last season at Iona. The lone blemishes on Mulamekic's afternoon were three walks, a bunt single by Vincent Mauro to break up the no-hitter leading off the eighth, and a leadoff single through the right side by Brady Desjardins to open the ninth.
 
Offensively, reigning three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week Tyler Figueroa again took center stage for Siena (7-28, 4-8). The freshman opened the scoring with an RBI single on a two-run play in the first, and accounted for a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Figueroa added his second RBI single of the afternoon in the frame, before proceeding to steal both second and third, and then coming in to score the final run on an errant throw attempting to catch him stealing.
 
Austin Rachiele capped a big series, adding a both a pair of hits and walks while scoring twice and stealing a base to help the Saints secure their first win this spring at Connors Park.
 
Noah Rodriguez came out of the bullpen to get the final two outs for Siena to complete the program's first shutout victory in three years, dating back to a seven-inning 4-0 win vs. Rider on May 9, 2021. The two hits allowed were also the fewest by the pitching staff since that same game which produced a one-hitter. The day prior to that game marks the most recent nine-inning shutout for the Saints, which was also a one-hitter.
 
The masterful performance from Mulamekic punctuated a strong overall weekend from the Siena pitching staff, which mostly neutralized a Purple Eagles offense which entered the series ranked 21^st nationally in both batting average (.316) and scoring (8.8). Saints pitching limited Niagara to just 11 total runs for the weekend – an average of only 3.7 runs per game – while holding the Purple Eagles to a collective batting average of only .180 (17-94).
 
Siena continues its stretch of five home games in six days when the Saints host Binghamton in non-conference action Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Connors Park.