April 22, 2009

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The St. Bonaventure baseball team fought off the cold weather and Bucknell on Wednesday afternoon en route to a doubleheader sweep of the Bison at Depew Field. Behind a strong seven-inning effort from junior Dennis Sherba, the Bonnies took the opener, 6-3, while the Bona bats led the visitors to a 12-2 win in game two.

The pair of wins snaps a five-game losing streak for the Brown and White, as they improve to 18-15 on the season heading into this weekend's crucial Atlantic 10 series against Richmond. Game one of the three-game set will be on Friday, April 24 at 3 p.m. at Fred Handler Park.

Making his fourth start of the season, Sherba's first career complete game featured three strikeouts and six hits. The Binghamton, N.Y. native improved to an impressive 4-1 on the season with the win.

With the opener tied at 3-3 after five full innings of play, the Bonnies rallied for the eventual game-winning run in the top of the sixth. A walk to sophomore Ryan Mosher and a single by Jesse Bosnik with two outs gave the Bonnies new life. Bucknell pitcher Eric Jarrett then unleashed a wild pitch, allowing Mosher to score easily from third.

The Bonnies tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh for the final outcome of 6-3.St. Bonaventure's final run of the game also came on a wild pitch, while Sherba put down the Bison in order over the final two innings.

The story of game two was the Bona bats. The Bonnies plated a run in five of the seven innings thanks to 12 hits and 11 walks.

The Brown and White jumped out of the gates to a 7-0 lead by the middle of the second inning. Two of those runs came in the opening at-bat on an RBI single by Kyle Gorby and a bases loaded walk to Mosher.

The big inning came in the second, as a combination of hits, walks and Bucknell errors led to five runs. A three-run double by Gorby highlighted the inning, while Mosher drove in a run with an RBI single.

The benefactor of the fast start was sophomore Aron Meindl who made his third start of the season, but missed getting the win by one out after lasting three and two-third innings. Freshman Jordan Crane recorded the last out of the fourth inning and tossed the next two to earn his first career collegiate victory.

Gorby and Bosnik were the offensive stars of the day with five hits apiece. Gorby drove in a staggering seven runs on the afternoon by going 5-for-9 with two doubles and his fourth home run of the season. All five of Bosnik's hits were singles as he also added three runs scored, two RBI and three stolen bases.

Freshmen Michael Grieco and Ryan Skellie started both games at catcher and in right field, respectively. Grieco went 2-for-4 in the opener and finished the day with three hits, while Skellie had a hit in each game and scored a total of three runs.