May 2, 2009

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - The St. Bonaventure baseball team's comeback effort from four runs down fell just a run short, as it dropped a highly-competitive 7-6 decision to UMass in game two of the Atlantic 10 series at Earl Lorden Field on Saturday.

Trailing 7-3 in the top of the eighth, the Bonnies plated three runs to climb within one. With the game-tying run on second base with two outs, freshman Ryan Skellie ripped his third single of the game to left field, but sophomore Jamie Wallschlaeger was thrown out on a close plate the plate to end the inning and the comeback effort.

The Brown and White placed a runner on first with two outs in the ninth, but UMass reliever Bryan Leigh shut the door for his second save of the season.

St. Bonaventure falls to 21-19 on the season and 7-12 in the A-10. The Minutemen, on the other hand, even their Conference record at 10-10 with the win. The Bonnies will look to salvage one game in the weekend series on Sunday when they send sophomore Cael Johnson to the mound. First pitch is slated for noon.

After being two-hit in the opener, St. Bonaventure responded with 11 hits on Saturday, but was still plagued by strikeouts with 12. The end result of all the strikeouts was 10 runners left on base, including four in scoring position.

Skellie equaled his career-best with three hits on the day, while driving in his 23rd and 24th RBI of the season. Sophomore Alex Calderon went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Junior Kyle Gorby was the only other Bonnie with a multi-hit afternoon.

Freshman Sebastian Bellitto tossed just one scoreless inning before leaving the game. Fellow freshman Jordan Crane relieved Bellitto in the second inning and lasted three innings.

St. Bonaventure took its lone lead of the game in the top of third inning with two runs for a 2-1 advantage. Sophomore Brad Steinbach led of the inning with his second triple of the week to put the Bonnies in business. Calderon quickly followed with an RBI single to plate the first run. After moving over to third on a pair of ground outs, Calderon made his way home on a RBI bunt single by Skellie.

The Bona lead was short-lived, as the Minutemen responded with two runs in their half of the third inning to retake the lead, at 3-2. Corey Volpicelli's two-run single with two outs accounted for both runs.

The Minutemen added two more in the fourth, the last inning of the game for Crane. UMass' second straight two-run inning gave the home team a 5-2 lead.

Skellie's second RBI single of the contest pulled the Bonnies within two, 5-3, but two costly errors in the bottom of the sixth allowed the Minutemen to push their lead up to 7-3.

That would be the last of the runs for UMass, though, as junior Cory Sudbrook kept the Minutemen off the scoreboard over the final two and one-third innings.

Sudbrook's array of off-speed pitches kept Massachusetts off balance and allowed the Brown and White to mount their comeback that fell just one run short.