The Saints fell behind early with defensive lapses and narrowly came all the way back at the end as the St. Lawrence University baseball team fell to SUNY Canton 6-5 on Tom Fay Field in an emotion-filled battle to the end.

With the loss the Saints now fall to 7-8 in the season, while the Roos improved to 8-10.

Mike Siano had a team-high two-RBI, including a solo home run in the fifth. Willie Landman, Riley Reimund, and John Donnellan each tacked on an RBI for themselves.

The Roos took an early lead as Chris McLean scored on an overthrown pick to second base. Another came across for Canton from an infield error. The score would remain 2-0 in favor of the Roos until the fifth.

Not satisfied by their two runs, AJ Campi scored teammate Jacob Ortiz on an RBI up the middle. Helping themselves, the Saints turned a 6-4-3 double play, followed by another groundout to get them out of the inning.



Siano struck in the bottom of the fifth, swinging at the first pitch of his at-bat and sent it soaring down the left field line and over the wall for a solo shot. Jack Finnegan earned a two-out walk later in the inning, then stole two bases before getting stranded.

In the sixth, it moved to a 3-2 game as Reimund fouled out to left field, but not before John Gannon tagged up and crossed home base for the sacrifice fly.

The Roos came back with a sacrifice fly of their own in the seventh, plating another run. They would quickly add another after a walk, and a wild pitch put a Roo in scoring position for a single through the left side to score again.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Landman got his RBI via walking with the bases loaded, making the score 5-3. The threat ended in the next at-bat with a strikeout for Canton.

In the eighth, the game spiraled into chaos following a 7-5-2 putout in which the Roos' Korbin Lovejoy ran over the Saints George Proffitt at home plate, which cleared the benches and led to numerous ejections on both sides. After things settled down, Michael Flyzik struck out a Roo looking for the last out of the inning.

Energized by the heightened emotions, the Saints got back-to-back doubles from Ethan Harris and John Donnellan, which helped add another run to the effort, keeping the game within one run at 5-4.

Like the rest of the game, the Roos were not going to let the run go unanswered and scored on a double in the top of the ninth.

The Saints came very close to tying it in the bottom of the ninth as a walk to Nolan Widrick led to back-to-back singles from Matt Davis and Harris to load the bases. Siano brought a runner home with a sacrifice fly, but it was turned into a double play on the bases as a close play at third was called the 27^th out.

Starting pitcher Noah Clausen pitched the first three innings of the contest, striking out one and allowing no earned runs. James Morr struck out one and allowed one hit in two innings of relief before Will Nardella hurled 1.2 innings thereafter. Nathan Jackson pitched for an inning before the melee, and Michael Flyzik finished off the final 1.1, striking out one.

St. Lawrence will be back in Liberty League play this weekend when the team travels to Rochester, N.Y., for a three-game set against the Yellowjackets of Rochester.