Rain, Cold Await Canisius, Mount St. Mary’s in MAAC Opener

EMMITSBURG, Md. (March 13, 2026) (Interstat) — A cold, wet evening is forecast for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener between the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers and the visiting Canisius Golden Griffins on Friday at Straw Family Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. under challenging conditions, with a game-time temperature near 39 degrees and rain expected.

The matchup features teams looking to reverse early-season trends. Mount St. Mary’s (6-8) enters with a better overall record but is coming off a 20-4 road loss to Maryland-Baltimore County on Tuesday. Canisius (3-9) seeks to end a two-game skid after being outscored 24-1 in a doubleheader at Delaware last weekend.

A player to watch for the Mountaineers is infielder Sean Heffernan, who went 2 for 2 with three RBIs in the loss to UMBC. For the Golden Griffins, reliever Noah Albano will be a key figure. Albano has had mixed results this season but pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout in his last outing against Delaware on March 8.

Projections for the game are split. The Interstat game simulator predicts a narrow 4-3 victory for Mount St. Mary’s. However, the same service’s ELO rating system gives Canisius a 55.3% probability to win.

The Mountaineers showed offensive firepower in a three-game sweep at Norfolk State from Feb. 27-March 1, scoring 43 runs. Canisius has struggled to find consistency, with its last win coming on Feb. 28, a 4-2 victory at Towson where Albano recorded the final out.

The teams are scheduled to continue the series Saturday and Sunday afternoons in Emmitsburg, weather permitting.