May 20, 2006
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. -
Richmond came from behind to defeat St. Bonaventure, 8-7, in the final game of the regular season on Saturday at McGraw-Jennings Field.
Despite the loss, the Bonnies (26-19/18-8) finished in second place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with an 18-8 record. St. Bonaventure will have a first round bye in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament, which will be played May 24-27 at Fordham University's Coffey Field. The Bonnies' opening game in the tournament will be Thursday, May 25, at 3:30. Their opponent will be the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 3 seed Dayton and George Washington, the No. 6 seed.
Rhode Island (19-7) won the A-10 regular season title with an 8-6 win over Massachusetts on Saturday.
"We let this one slip away today, but overall I am so proud of this team and what they have accomplished," said St. Bonaventure coach Larry Sudbrook, who is in his 21st season. "To finish ahead of 12 teams in the largest baseball conference in Division I says a lot."
Saturday, the Bonnies led 7-1 going into the seventh inning, but Richmond came back to score four runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to tie the game at 7-7. The Spiders scored the winning run in the ninth when they loaded the bases with one out and Alex Wotring hit a ground ball to Bona junior second baseman Kieran Malone. Malone and shortstop Josh Perkins attempted to turn a double play but Wotring beat Perkins' relay throw and Matt McKenna scored.
The Bonnies hit four home runs in the game - two by freshman first baseman Tristan Mulcahy and one apiece by Malone and freshman catcher Brandon Salerno. Mulcahy finished the day 2-5 with three RBI. Sophomore center fielder Randy Moley went 2-3 and scored twice, while senior pitcher/DH Matt Agostinelli went 2-4.
Sophomore Eddie Williams took the loss after he pitched the final 1-2/3 innings. Agostinelli turned in a strong performance as the Bonnies' starter, allowing four runs on just four hits over 6-2/3 innings. Agostinelli's appearance on the mound was his 21st this season, a new school record.
St. Bonaventure's 18 conference wins are a school record.
