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FINAL TWO GAMES OF SERIES TO BE PLAYED ON SATURDAY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a game that featured 23 runs, 25 hits and 11 different pitchers, Charlotte rallied back from a two-run deficit in the eighth to force extra innings and earn a wild 12-11 win over St. Bonaventure in the 10^th inning on Friday night in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams at Hayes Stadium.

The loss drops the Bonnies to 4-9 on the season, while Charlotte improves to 13-5.

Originally to be a three-game series over three days, the final two games of the series will be played on Saturday due to forecasted rain on Sunday. The first game of Saturday's doubleheader will start at 2 p.m.  

A total of 18 players picked up a hit in the game that lasted three hours and 43 minutes. The Brown and White produced 10 of those hits, highlighted by two each from the outfield duo of sophomores Ryan Skellie and Nick Brennen. Skellie blasted a solo home run and an RBI double, while Brennen drove home two runs on a triple. Brennen now has 12 RBI in his last three games and a team-best 20 for the season. 

A wild first inning saw both teams' plate six runs on five hits. A Charlotte error kept the Bona half of the inning alive and was capped by a towering three-run home run by freshman Austin Ingraham. The home run was the first of Ingraham's career, while he became the sixth Bonnie with a round-tripper this season.

Unfortunately, for the Bonnies, the momentum from their first at-bat was short-lived, as a potent Charlotte that came in batting .357 as a team plated six runs of their own.

The 49ers responded with three more runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 9-6 lead and knocked St. Bonaventure starter Dennis Sherba from the game.

Freshman Robert Nalepa took over for Sherba in the second and stymied the Charlotte bats for 6.1 innings. Nalepa limited the 49ers to one run and six hits while on the mound after they had nine runs on six hits over the first two innings.

Nalepa's dominance on the mound allowed the Bonnies to climb back into the game and eventually take the lead. Skellie's solo home run in the top of the fifth made the score 9-7, while it was a four-run seventh that gave the Bonnies an 11-7 edge. Again, it was Skellie starting things with a RBI double followed by freshman Billy Urban's (pictured) RBI sacrifice fly that tied the game at 9-9. With two outs and a pair of runners on base, Brennen drilled his second triple and 11 extra-base hit of the season to bring home both runs and give the Brown and White an 11-9 lead.

Charlotte pieced together back-to-back one-run innings in the eighth and ninth to force extra innings. The Bonnies failed to record a hit over their final three at-bats and had just one base-runner.

The 49ers plated the game-winning run in the 10^th with one out as a throwing error allowed the runner to score all the way from second base for the final 12-11 outcome.

Both Urban and Ingraham set season-highs with three RBI, while junior Jesse Bosnik extended his hit streak to 11 games with a 1-for-3 afternoon. Nalepa's afternoon on the mound featured four strikeouts over 6.1 innings as he earned a no-decision.