May 9, 2009

Box Score

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Three St. Bonaventure errors in the ninth inning helped visiting Duquesne plate the final three runs of the game without delivering a hit in their final at-bat, as the Dukes stole a 7-4 victory on Saturday at Fred Handler Park.

The loss is the fifth straight in conference play for the Bonnies, who were officially eliminated from A-10 postseason play. With four regular season games remaining, the Brown and White will look to improve on their 22-23 overall record and claim the program's 14th winning season.

Sophomore Cael Johnson hurled eight strong innings, giving up four runs on nine hits with six strikeouts. Johnson left the game with the score tied at 4-4 so he earned the no decision. Johnson has now gone eight or more innings in seven of his 11 starts on the season.

Johnson's counterpart from Duquesne Gary Pierpont also earned a no-decision after escaping a bases loaded jam in the seventh. Reliever Michael Pelekanos came on in relief and sat the Brown and White down in order in both the eighth and ninth for the win.

The wheels came off in the ninth inning for St. Bonaventure with the score tied at 4-4. After an error and a walk put runners on second and third with no outs, it appeared the Bonnies had elected to intentionally walk Rick Devereaux. After issuing two balls, sophomore Brad Steinbach hurled the next three pitches down the plate despite catcher Michael Grieco being in the intentional walk stance. After alertly fouling off the first two, Deveroux put the final pitch in play and the Bonnies attempt to get the runner out at home went south as Grieco lost control of the ball allowing the eventual game-winning run to score making it 5-4. The adventure wasn't over for the Bonnies, as two more runs came in on another error and a wild pitch.

In all, St. Bonaventure committed five errors and eight hits. Sophomore Jesse Bosnik pieced together his third straight multi-hit game with a 2-for-5 day that featured two runs scored and two stolen bases. Senior Kevin Suminski cracked his fourth home run of the season and also delivered a single.

After giving up a run to Duquesne in the opening inning, the Bonnies used the long ball to plate three runs in their half of the inning. Junior Nick Cunliffe cracked a leadoff home run to start the inning, while Suminski drilled a two-run home run just two batters later to make it 3-1.

The Bonnies took a 4-1 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by senior Anthony Randich.

After being held in check for three innings, the Dukes got all three runs back on one swing when Mike Carroll cracked a three-run home run over the left field wall to knot the score at 4-4.

The third and final game of the series will commence on Sunday at noon. Junior Dennis Sherba will take the mound for the Bonnies and will attempt to become just the third player in program history to win eight games in a season.