April 28, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Behind some big hits and a pair of strong pitching performances from Cody Vincent and Jim Britton, the Bonnies swept a doubleheader from La Salle on Saturday at Hank DeVincent Field.

St. Bonaventure slugged their way to 20 hits to win game one, 13-4. The Bonnies came out on top in the second game, 5-3, thanks to a late inning rally. The sweep -- which came without the help of senior All-America candidate Brian Pellegrini, who sat out due to a hamstring injury -- pushed St. Bonaventure back to .500 in the Atlantic 10 at 8-8.

In game one, St. Bonaventure jumped out to a 9-0 lead after five innings. Joe Rizzo, Josh Sova, B.J. Salerno, and Kevin Suminski each hit RBI doubles during the stretch. Suminski scored the Bonnies' run in the fourth by stealing home.

Right fielder T.J. Pennino led the Bonnies with three RBI and designated hitter Tristan Mulcahy went 4-5. Nine Bonnies recorded a hit, with eight hitters getting an RBI in a balanced attack that included seven doubles.

Vincent pitched seven strong innings to earn the win, improving to 3-6. He allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out four. La Salle starter Dan Waters (4-5) took the loss.

Rizzo got the Bonnies started in the third inning of game two with a two-run double, putting St. Bonaventure up 2-0.

The Bonnies manufactured a run in the fifth. Junior Randy Moley led off the inning with a single and stole home to make it 3-0.

The Explorers would tie the game in the eighth. A two-run homer off the bat of John Rickards evened the score at 3-3.

Rizzo then led off the ninth with a solo home run to break the tie. St. Bonaventure tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single by to make it 5-3.

Josh Perkins came on to close it out in the ninth and earned his third save. Britton got the win to improve to 4-2. He allowed seven hits and struck out four in eight innings of work. T.J. Chism (2-4) took the loss for La Salle.

St. Bonaventure is now 8-8 in the Atlantic 10 and 17-19 overall. La Salle falls to 6-11 in conference play and 14-23 on the season.

The two teams will conclude their three-game series on Sunday at noon.