April 15, 2009

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. - A five-run seventh inning helped Canisius grab its first lead of the game and vault to a 8-5 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday afternoon at Demske Sports Complex.

The Bonnies held a 5-2 edge entering the bottom half of the seventh before four consecutive extra base hits ignited the Golden Griffs' comeback. Canisius tacked on one more run in the eighth for the final outcome.

The Brown and White won the first meeting between the Big 4 rivals in late March, but fall to 16-12 on the season with the loss. The two teams will meet again next Tuesday, April 21 at Fred Handler Park. St. Bonaventure (5-6) will now turn its attention to Atlantic 10 action as it travels to conference-leading Rhode Island (20-12-1, 9-2) for a three-game set beginning on Friday at 3 p.m.

Eight of the nine St. Bonaventure starters recorded a hit on the afternoon, but the visitors were plagued by 12 runners left on base. Sophomore Ryan Mosher continues to swing a hot bat, picking up his fifth multi-hit game in the last six contests with a 2-for-5 day at the dish that included a double. Mosher is batting .440 (11-25) over the last six games.

Sophomore Brad Steinbach and freshman Ryan Skellie were the other two Bonnies with two hits. Like Mosher, both of them also had a double as the Brown and White had four two-baggers on the afternoon and 11 hits overall.

Starter Dennis Sherba was solid through the first six innings, giving up two runs as the Bonnies held a 5-2 lead. St. Bonaventure scored in four of the first five innings to take the three-run advantage.

After a striking out the lead off batter in the seventh inning, Sherba was charged with four of the five runs in the inning while recording just one out. Canisius' four straight extra-base hits were led off by a home run by Ian Choy and followed a triple and two doubles.

The Bonnies had their fair share of chances to climb back into the ball game over the final two innings, but left a total of five runners on base in the last two innings.