March 28, 2009
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
CAMDEN, N.J. -
The St. Bonaventure baseball team completed the three-game series sweep of Saint Joseph's on Saturday afternoon by taking both games of a doubleheader at Campbell's Field. The Bonnies took the opener 3-1 and followed with an 11-5 win in game two.
St. Bonaventure never trailed over the 27 innings played in the series and now stands at 11-7 on the season and 3-3 in the Atlantic 10. The Brown and White have taken six of their last seven from the Hawks (8-14, 3-3 A-10) and have now tied a season-long four-game win streak.
Freshman Sebastian Bellitto was the star of game one, tossing seven and two-third strong innings in the win. Bellitto gave up just one run on four hits while striking out five en route to improving to 3-1 on the season.
Bellitto retired 12 of the first 15 batters he faced over the first four innings, as the Bonnies built a 2-0 lead. Junior Kyle Gorby's RBI sacrifice fly brought home Anthony Randich, who doubled to lead off the inning, for the first run. Senior Brandon Salerno singled home the other run in the fourth inning.
Saint Joseph's finally got to Bellitto in the fifth, cutting the score to 2-1, but the Brown and White gave the insurance run right back to freshman lefty in the seventh inning. Sophomore Jesse Bosnik led off the inning with a double and was brought home on a single by Kevin Suminski in the next at-bat for a 3-1 lead.
After a walk by Bellitto gave the Hawks to runners on with two outs in the eighth, junior Cory Sudbrook got the Bonnies out of the jam by getting Valesente to foul out to first.
Sophomore Michael Pease came on in the ninth inning for his first career save. Pease allowed a pair of base runners, but was aided by a 6-4-3 double play.
Game two belonged to St. Bonaventure from the get-go, as the visitors jumped out to a 9-0 lead by the third inning. The big inning came in the second, as the Bonnies scored seven runs despite having just three hits. All seven runs in the inning were unearned as an early error and five walks fueled the fast start for the Brown and White.
The 9-0 lead was more than enough run support for senior Jim Britton on the mound. Britton lasted six innings, giving up five hits and one earned run while finishing with five strikeouts. The win was the 15th of Britton's career, including his 12th in A-10 action.
St. Bonaventure finished with 29 hits over the three-game series, but had a ton of base runners thanks to 16 walks. It was also a good weekend for the Bona pitching staff, which gave up just six earned runs over 27 innings for a team ERA of 2.00 and had 19 strikeouts and issued just nine walks.
Bosnik reached base six times on the afternoon thanks to four hits and two walks. Bosnik finished the series 6-for-12 with five runs scored, two doubles, two RBI and three walks.
After sitting out game one on Friday, freshman Ryan Skellie returned to right field to go 4-for-9 on the day. Skellie equaled a season-high with three hits in the second game and had two RBI. Junior Nick Cunliffe went 4-for-9 over his two games played in the series, while Gorby and Randich also had four hits. Suminski reached base in all three games and has done so in all 18 games this season and 26 dating back to 2008.
St. Bonaventure will be back in action on Tuesday, March 31 against Big 4 rival Niagara. The two teams will square off in two seven-inning doubleheaders starting at 2 p.m. at Fred Handler Park. The second game of the doubleheader can be heard on WSBU 88.3 FM or via the Stretch Internet button www.GoBonnies.com.
