May 30, 2004

Box Score

NORWICH, Conn. - St. Bonaventure's improbable postseason run will continue into the NCAA Tournament as the Bonnies downed Rhode Island 3-2 in the title game of the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship on Sunday afternoon at Dodd Memorial Stadium.

By winning the A-10 Championship, the first in program history, the Bonnies earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will begin next weekend at a site to be announced Monday at noon EST on ESPN2.

Tournament MVP Brian Pellegrini got URI catcher Josh Nestor to line into a double play to second baseman Craig King to end the game after the Rams had runners on first and second with one out. There was controversy as King dropped the ball when he attempted to tag out Mike Harris, but King recovered the ball and finally, Harris was called out for leaving the basepath. URI had already scored one run in the frame to pull within 3-2.

"(Nestor) got it off the end of the bat and it went right to Kinger," Pellegrini said of the final play. "I was confused, like everybody else, but we got the call. It feels great. We've been playing great ball and I just love playing tournaments. They're all big games."

St. Bonaventure wound up with a 4-0 record in the Championship, winning all four games by one-run margins. The Bonnies topped Fordham 5-4, Rhode Island 7-6 in 11 innings and Richmond 10-9.

"Every time you win nailbiters, you start to feel you can keep winning," said Bonnies coach Larry Sudbrook, who won his first A-10 title in his 19th season at SBU. "We expected to win as we kept going. But, this was not a year I expected or anybody expected us to win the A-10, so that makes it all the more special."

Along with Pellegrini, senior shortstop Eric Wilson, freshman designated hitter Joe Rizzo and freshman pitcher Michael Proctor were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Rams got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Josh Nestor led off the top of the third with single to right center field. Nestor advanced to third on the next play as Joe Viscuso singled over the head of Bonnies freshman first baseman Kieran Malone. Nestor would come around to score as Scott Brown hit into a double play.

The Bonnies tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth. King reached on an error by the third baseman to begin the bottom of the fifth. King stole second and then came in to score on double to left field off the sophomore left fielder Dan Bratys.

St. Bonaventure took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth as Wilson led off the bottom of the inning with a double down the third base line. Wilson advanced to third on a fielder's choice of the bat of freshman right fielder Brian Pellegrini. and then came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Landahl.

The Bonnies took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh that proved critical. Freshman third baseman Matt Mardeusz led off with single to left field and stole second. Mardeusz advanced to third on a fielder's choice by junior catcher Damian Blakeley, then came in to score as Wilson got an infield single deep into the hold at short off the Rams' Mick Lefort.

Proctor pitched 7-2/3 strong innings, allowing only one run on six hits while striking out five to improve to 5-2. Proctor went 2-0 in the A-10 Championship.

Pellegrini, who allowed one run on one and a third innings of pitched, earned his ninth save of the season.

"Proctor and Pellegrini were without a doubt the keys," Sudbrook said. "Mike came out on three days rest and gave us a chance to win. To throw against the No. 1 seed that way was super. Pellegrini again closed it. There were a lot of plays he could have folded on, but he didn't."

St. Bonaventure improved to 29-20 with the win, while Rhode Island fell to 35-20-1.