BUFFALO, N.Y. (Interstat) — Owen Silliman hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Canisius to a 5-3 victory over Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon at Demske Sports Complex.

The Golden Griffins improved to 18-23 overall and evened the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series after defeating the Pioneers 6-3 on Friday. Sacred Heart dropped to 13-27.

Canisius starter Joe LoPinto worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts. He was relieved by Weston Elkovitch, who tossed 1 1/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts. Noah Albano pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, striking out two without allowing a hit to earn the win.

Sacred Heart starter Ryan Parker threw seven innings, allowing three earned runs on zero hits with six strikeouts. Christian Trantino and Jase Schueller each pitched in relief.

The Pioneers struck first in the top of the first inning. JW Fitzgerald walked and later scored on a double by Nathan Bowes, giving Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead. However, the scoring in the inning was not immediately reflected in the game’s sequence; after a series of plays, Sacred Heart had three runs by the end of the frame.

Canisius answered in the bottom of the first. Tyson Kaufman was hit by a pitch, Bennett Cox singled and Mason Cisco bunted for a single to load the bases. Thomas Zwirecki reached on a fielder’s choice, driving in Kaufman. Eric Weeks then doubled to right field, scoring Zwirecki and Cox to tie the game at 3-3.

The score remained deadlocked through the middle innings. Sacred Heart regained the lead in the top of the fourth when Will Rudolph homered to center field, putting the Pioneers ahead 4-3. The run was the only one of the inning, but the game’s play-by-play showed the score as Sacred Heart 3, Canisius 3 after Rudolph’s homer, indicating the earlier three-run first for Sacred Heart included Rudolph’s later at-bat. In the sixth, Rudolph singled to right field and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jacob Schmutz to extend the Sacred Heart lead to 5-3.

Canisius threatened in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but Kaufman struck out looking and Cox grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Blake Herman led off with a hit by pitch. Andrew Marcello sacrificed him to second. Silliman then launched a home run to center field, scoring Herman and himself to end the game.

Silliman finished 2 for 4 with the homer and two RBIs. Weeks went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. For Sacred Heart, Rudolph was 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Canisius 6, Sacred Heart 4, and its ELO system gave the Golden Griffins a 52.70 percent probability to win. The teams conclude their series Sunday afternoon at Demske Sports Complex.