The key for St. Francis was to get more hits.

And that it did.

With eight total and three in the third inning, the Red Raiders earned a 4-0 win over Canisius to even the best-of-three Georgetown Cup series at 1-1.

The deciding Game Three will be at St. Joe’s at 4:15 p. m. today.

After managing just two hits against Canisius ace Jason Frey on Tuesday, the Red Raiders were able to pick out their pitches and drive in runs against Bill Brancatella.

“We were just a little bit more aggressive in the zone,” St. Francis coach Paul Bartell said. “It was timely hitting and just hitting the ball hard. That’s been the difference when our guys swing the bats a little bit and they decide to do it. They can look at too many pitches and the first good one that you see is the one you rip at. That’s what they did.”

Sophomore A. J. DiRienzo paced the St. Francis attack from the No. 8 spot, going 3 for 3 including a key two-run double in the third inning.

“He’s really done a good job for us all year in center field,” Bartell said. “He’s got a lot of ability and he’s just starting to come into his own and he can definitely hit. He’s got a lot of power. He’s a big, strong kid for a sophomore. It’s nice to have the bottom of your order get some hits for you.”

The third kicked off with a double by Joe Pantano, who stole third while Nick Jasinski was drawing a walk. Luke Szymanski doubled to right field to score Pantano for a 1-0 lead. After an intentional walk to Michael Wagner loaded the bases, Brancatella walked Ted DiRienzo, giving St. Francis a 2-0 lead.

Sean Larson struck out to set the scene for A. J. DiRienzo who drilled a double to left field. That scored two runs while Ted DiReinzo was thrown out at the plate attempting to score from first.

“We were up, 2-0, and we know with Canisius that we’ve got to get up big on them just to seal the deal. That was a pretty good hit and it sealed it,” A. J. Di- Rienzo said. “[Tuesday] was not so good hitting and today at [batting practice] I was just trying some new things. I was practicing it and it showed up today in the game. Being aggressive was important — not waiting on the good pitches.”|

Jasinski was solid on the mound for St. Francis. The senior, who signed with the University at Buffalo, pitched the complete game, giving up just three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Canisius advanced a runner to scoring position only once — in the second inning when John Barrick led off with a single and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Dylan Rickrode.

Brancatella threw six innings for Canisius, giving up the seven hits and four runs with five strikeouts and four walks.

“My pitcher wasn’t hitting his spots, especially that [third] inning,” Canisius coach Bryan Tenney said. “That hurts and they’re a good hitting team. I won’t take anything away from them. . . . We didn’t expect anything less than their best effort so we know we’ve got that. We’ll be ready to back at it [today].”