March 27, 2009

Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. - Behind a complete game by sophomore Cael Johnson and opportune hitting, the St. Bonaventure baseball team picked up its first Atlantic 10 win of the season defeating Saint Joseph's 7-2 on Friday afternoon at Campbell's field.

The Bonnies improved to 9-7 on the season, but more importantly cracked the win column in A-10 play at 1-3. The loss was the first of the young A-10 season for the Hawks (8-12), who swept all three games from La Salle last weekend.

With cold weather and rain in the forecast, the two teams will attempt to finish the series on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. The series will remain at Campbell's Field.

Johnson's second career complete game and his first of the full nine-inning variety bumped his record to 3-0 on the season. Johnson scattered five hits and gave up just one hit and allowed a measly five base runners over the final six innings. The nearby Frewsburg Central School product retired the final seven batters of the game and struck out seven on the afternoon.

Despite having just eight hits, the Bonnies did a much better of taking advantage of scoring opportunities, leaving just six runners on base. Sophomore Jesse Bosnik went 2-for-4 with two RBI, while junior Nick Cunliffe also had two hits.

St. Bonaventure opened the scoring in the top of the third inning, scoring four runs with two outs. Bosnik singled home the first run, while a wild pitch brought Brandon Salerno home from third and moved Bosnik into scoring position. Kevin Suminski then hit what seemed to be a harmless inning-ending fly ball to second, but it was lost in the sun, allowing Bosnik to score for the 3-0 lead. Senior Anthony Randich drove home the final run of the inning with a single to left field.

The Hawks bounced back with one run in their half of the third to cut it to a 4-1 game. The inning could have been much worse for Johnson, as he gave up just one run despite having two runners in scoring position with one out.

Another Saint Joseph's run in the fifth made it 4-2, but Johnson would settle down the rest of the way allowing just one hit over the final four innings.

St. Bonaventure tacked on a run in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to gradually pull away from the Hawks. Cunliffe drove in the run in the seventh, while Brad Steinbach picked up an RBI in the eighth and Bosnik capped things with his second RBI single in the ninth.