March 20, 2009

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The St. Bonaventure baseball team opened Atlantic 10 Conference play in dramatic fashion on Friday afternoon, suffering a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Dayton in 11 innings at Carleton Davidson Stadium.

After spotting the Flyers a 4-0 lead to start the game, the Bonnies rallied to tie the game at 4-4 with a two-run seventh inning. Both teams squandered several scoring chances over the next four innings until an RBI single by Dayton's Cole Tyrell broke the tie and clinched the game for the home team.

The loss drops the Bonnies to 7-5 on the season, while Dayton evens its mark at 9-9.

Despite leaving 14 runners on base, the Brown and White stayed in the game thanks to a tremendous performance from its bullpen. Starter Jim Britton lasted just three innings after giving up four runs, but was relieved by junior Dennis Sherba, who struck out a career-high six batters while waking none over four and one-third scoreless innings. In all, five pitchers represented the bullpen, giving up just one run in over seven innings of work.

Seven of nine starters in the lineup finished with multi-hit afternoons, as St. Bonaventure pounded out 16 hits. Sophomore Brad Steinbach, who also pitched in the ninth and 10th innings, led the way with a career-high three hits and two runs scored.

The Brown and White's top four hitters combined for eight hits and all four RBI, while junior Kyle Gorby, sophomore Jesse Bosnik and Steinbach in the 7-9 spots went 7-for-13 with three runs scored.

Dayton jumped out to a 4-0 lead with by the end of the third inning. The Flyers touched up Britton for three runs in the first inning on three hits and added one more in the third.

After leaving two runners on base in each of the first three innings, the Bonnies finally broke through in the top of the fourth with two runs to make it 4-2. Bosnik started the run by singling through the left side and then stealing second. Steinbach followed with a single of his own to put runners on the corners. Senior Brandon Salerno brought home Bosnik with an RBI single and junior Nick Cunliffe bunt single scored a fleet-footed Steinbach from third.

Sherba kept the Flyers at bay over the next three innings, retiring 10 of 12 batters he faced, including all three in the sixth inning.

St. Bonaventure capitalized on Sherba's dominance in the top of the sixth, knotting the score at 4-4. Again, it was Bosnik and Steinbach starting the rally, as the duo each singled to start the inning. After a walk to Cunliffe loaded the bases, senior Kevin Suminski was hit by a pitch, bringing in a run to make it 4-3. Senior Anthony Randich then delivered an RBI sacrifice fly to deep center field to score Steinbach.

Making his first career appearance in an A-10 contest, sophomore Michael Pease took over for Sherba in the eighth inning with one out and runners on first and second base. Pease promptly got Dayton leadoff man Jacob Spaeth to ground into a crucial inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to keep the score tied.

Dayton missed a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, as Steinbach worked his way out of a jam by striking out Navalinski with a runner on third base.

The Brown and White's best chance to take the lead over the extra two frames came in the 10th after a two-out double by Salerno, the 25th of his career. With the outfield pushed in to protect the run from scoring, Cunliffe looped a single into right field, but Salerno was thrown out at home trying to score from second.

St. Bonaventure and Dayton will reconvene on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Time Warner Stadium. Sophomore Cael Johnson (2-0) will take the mound for the Brown and White.