May 15, 2009
Box Score
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - For the second straight
day visiting Charlotte got off to a fast start and went on to
defeat St. Bonaventure, this time by a 10-6 margin on a sunny
Friday afternoon at Fred Handler Park.
The 49ers jumped out to a 7-1 advantage by the fifth inning and
held off a mid-game charge from the Bonnies to improve to 32-19 on
the season and 16-10 in league play.
With just one game remaining in its 2009 season, St. Bonaventure
(23-25) will look to salvage the third and final game of the series
on Saturday at noon. The Brown and White's six seniors will be
honor shortly following the game by taking the traditional final
lap around the base paths.
Senior Jim
Britton made the 37th and final start of his solid four-year
career by going seven and one-third innings in the loss. Britton
finishes the season with a 6-5 record and falls just one win short
of becoming the fourth player in program history to win 20 career
games. The Erie, Pa. native ranks in the top five all-time in
appearances (61), innings pitched (270.1), wins (19) and strikeouts
(197).
Charlotte brought its two-day hit total to 30 with 14 more on
Friday. The 49ers drilled three home runs for the second
consecutive day, including a pair off the bat of Ryan Rivers, who
brought his league-leading total to 17.
St. Bonaventure bounced back from a poor hitting performance in
the opener with 13 hits in game two. Freshman Ryan Skellie
collected a season-best four hits, including his fifth double of
the season. Junior Kyle Gorby, who will
graduate on Sunday, finished 2-for-5 with his team-best sixth home
run of the season and three RBI. Sophomore Jesse Bosnik chipped
in with his 19th multi-hit game of the season, while classmate and
fellow St. Marys, Pa. native Brad Steinbach
also had a pair of singles.
Trailing 7-1 going into the home half of the fifth, the Bonnies
turned a two-out rally into a five-run inning to cut the deficit to
7-6. With runners on the corners, senior Anthony Randich
singled up the middle to drive home Brandon Salerno,
who made his first career start at first base, for the first run of
the inning. Skellie then delivered a sharply-hit single through the
left side to score Kevin Suminski
from second to make it 7-3. Gorby then drilled a three-run home run
over the left field wall to bring the Bonnies within one.
Britton kept the 49ers off the scoreboard in the sixth, but the
Bona momentum took a hit when the Bonnies left two runners on base
in the bottom of the sixth with a chance to tie or take the lead.
Charlotte capitalized in its next at-bat, plating an insurance
run in the seventh and two more in the eighth for the 10-6 final.
