May 17, 2008
Final Stats
RICHMOND, Va. -
A 5-0 Richmond lead through five innings was too much for St. Bonaventure to overcome as it fell to the Spiders 9-5 in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Pitt Field.
The loss snaps a four-game win streak for the Bonnies (29-22, 15-12) and secures them of the sixth seed in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament in Camden, N.J. The Brown and White will take Campbell's Field on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. against third-seeded Duquesne (24-27-1, 16-10). The Dukes took all three meetings from the Bonnies on the second weekend of A-10 play in Pittsburgh.
The Atlantic 10 Tournament appearance will be the eighth in program history and the team's third straight. St. Bonaventure has accumulated an 11-12 mark in A-10 postseason play with a pair of runner-ups in 1994 and 2006. The Bonnies made their historic A-10 Championship run in 2004 when they won four games in four days to claim the title.
The Spiders (20-31-2, 10-16-1) took a 5-0 lead by plating two runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the fourth. Richmond faced a slew of St. Bonaventure pitchers on the day in an effort by head coach Larry Sudbrook to get his relief pitchers some work before the tournament.
Freshman Cael Johnson got the nod on the mound and went three innings, giving up three runs on four hits. Johnson (3-1) was pinned for his first loss of the season. Freshman Aron Meindl took over for Johnson in the fourth and also lasted three innings. Meindl also gave up three runs and struggled with his control allowing five hits and three walks.
Trailing 5-0, St. Bonaventure started to find success at the plate after the fifth inning. The Bonnies produced just a pair of hits in the opening five innings. The sixth inning proved to be the starting point for the Bona bats as three hits generated the team's first run of the game. Senior Josh Sova singled up the middle to score freshman Jesse Bosnik to make it 5-1.
St. Bonaventure continued to eek its way back into the game as senior Randy Moley delivered two-out double to left centerfield to score Nick Cunliffe all the way from first for a 5-2 count.
Just as it seemed the Bonnies had momentum in their favor, Richmond widened the lead to six, 8-2, with three runs in its half of the seventh. Relievers Cory Sudbrook and Brian Hardner issued a combined three walks and gave up two hits to fuel the Spiders biggest inning of the game.
The Bonnies refused to go away, responding with three runs of its own in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit in half, at 8-5. As good as the three-run inning was, the Bonnies left the bases full as Richmond reliever Josh Horn got the Spiders out of the inning with a strikeout. Sova started the big inning with a one-out double down the left field line. After a walk to senior T.J. Pennino, sophomore Anthony Randich delivered his first hit of the day to bring home Sova for an 8-3 score. Catcher B.J. Salerno then stepped to the plate and smacked an RBI single to make it 8-4. A walk to Cunliffe loaded the bases for freshman Brad Steinbach, who drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. Moley then walked to reload the bases. Representing the potential game-winning run, Bosnik struck out looking to end the threat.
Richmond tacked on one run in the bottom of the inning for the final score as the Bonnies went down in order to end the game.
For the second consecutive day, eight of the nine St. Bonaventure starters finished with at least one hit as the team produced at least 10 hits for the eighth time in nine games.
