May 25, 2006

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on for a 4-3 win over Dayton in the Atlantic 10 Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Houlihan Park.

The Bonnies (27-19) advanced in the winner's bracket and will play Saint Louis on Friday at noon. The winner of that game will go into the championship contest on Saturday.

St. Bonaventure struck for a run in the first and three more in the second inning against Dayton starter Quinn Haselhorst. Junior left fielder Joe Rizzo opened the scoring with a single that plated junior shortstop Josh Perkins, who had singled and moved to second on a ground out by junior Brian Pellegrini. In the second inning, senior Matt Agostinelli led off with a single. After freshman first baseman Tristan Mulcahy drew a walk, junior second baseman Kieran Malone singled to score Agostinelli. One out later, sophomore center fielder Randy Moley smacked a double into the left-center field gap to bring home Mulcahy and Malone and put the Bonnies in front 4-0.

Bonnies senior lefthander John Zinnicker held the Flyers at bay. Dayton managed only two hits over the first five innings.

The Flyers got on the board in the sixth when a throwing error on Perkins and a walk put two runners on base. Catcher William Benoit made it 4-2 when he doubled down the right field line.

Dayton pitcher Cale Ort, meanwhile, who came on for Haselhorst in the fourth, held the Bonnies in check. St. Bonaventure's only major scoring threat after the second inning was in the seventh, when the Bonnies loaded the bases with two outs. But Dayton's third pitcher of the day, Kyle Linsday, came on to strike out Agostinelli.

In the top of the eighth, Agostinelli came on for Zinnicker and promptly allowed a triple to Michael Massa and walked Bobby Getty. But Bonnies coach Larry Sudbrook's strategy worked when he brought Zinnicker back in to pitch to Dayton lefthanders Galen Schumm and Bryan Chandler. Sudbrook was able to make the move since Zinnicker had stayed in the game in right field. Zinnicker retired Schumm on a pop-up and Chandler on a grounder to Malone; Massa did score on Chandler's grounder to make the score 4-3. Agostinelli then came back on and coaxed a fly ball from Benoit to end the eighth.

In the ninth, Dayton leadoff man Craig Rohren reached on a fielding error by junior third baseman Matt Mardeusz (Cave Creek, Ariz.) but was caught trying to steal second by Bonnies freshman catcher Brandon Salerno (Warren, Pa.). Agostinelli then retired the next two batters to earn his fifth save of the year.

"JZ (Zinnicker) did his job again - he gave us a chance to win," said Sudbrook. "Him coming back in to get two big outs in the eighth was critical, and then Gus (Agostinelli) and Salerno made big plays in the ninth. It wasn't easy, but we're happy to survive and advance. That's all you can do in this tournament."

Zinnicker won his seventh straight decision and is now 8-2 on the year. He did not allow an earned run over 7-2/3 innings.

Rizzo led the Bonnies' attack, finishing 2-3 with one RBI. Moley, Perkins and Malone all went 1-3 while Pellegrini was 1-4.