April 11, 2006

Box Score

ST.BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure and Binghamton split a baseball doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at McGraw-Jennings Field. The Bonnies rallied to win the opener 7-6 while the Bearcats took the nightcap 3-1 in extra innings.

In the first game, St. Bonaventure overcame a 6-4 deficit in its final at-bat. Sophomore center fielder Randy Moley and junior shortstop Josh Perkins started the rally with back-to-back doubles. Junior Brian Pellegrini tied the game at 6-6 with an RBI single that scored Perkins. Pellegrini advanced to third base when Bearcats shortstop Justin Smucker caught a line drive by junior left fielder Joe Rizzo but overthrew first base trying for a double play. Matt Mardeusz then hit a grounder toward Binghamton third baseman Ryan James, who charged in but let the ball go between his legs to allow Pellegrini to score the winning run.

Perkins went 3-3 with one run and one RBI in the opener, Pellegrini was 2-3 with two RBI and Moley went 2-4. Sophomore John Nolan picked up the win after he threw 4-1/3 innings in relief of starter Ryan Kerr. Nolan allowed a three-run home run to Brendon Hitchcock in the fourth inning but shut out the Bearcats after that. Nolan allowed three runs on four hits with three strikeouts over 4-1/3 innings of work.

In the nightcap that lasted nine innings, Bonnies pitchers Jim Britton, Matt Agostinelli and Sean Bruet combined to hold Binghamton to only five hits, but errors and missed opportunities cost the Bonnies. It was a 1-1 deadlock through seven innings. The Bearcats loaded the bases in both the eighth and ninth inning. Bruet struck out Michael Quinn to end the eighth, but in the ninth, after an error by Perkins, Jeff Monaco plated a pair of runs with a single to make it 3-1.

Binghamton reliever Nick Bogdanoff held St. Bonaventure to only one hit over 3-2/3 innings to record the win. Bruet suffered the loss at fell to 1-1 on the season.

The Bonnies commited three errors and stranded 10 runners in the second ballgame. Moley had three of the Bonnies' five hits, going 3-3.

St. Bonaventure is now 10-10 on the year while Binghamton is 13-10-1.

The Bonnies will return to action on Thursday when they host George Washington at 3:00 in the first of a three-game, Atlantic 10 Conference series.