CINCINNATI – The St. Bonaventure baseball team (15-18, 6-6 Atlantic 10 Conference) takes on Xavier (21-19, 6-6 A-10) in a three-game series this weekend at Hayden Field starting Friday at 3 p.m. Game two is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, with the rubber match set for Sunday at Noon. Both teams have identical conference marks, sitting just one game out of the sixth, and final, postseason spot with four weekends left.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bonnies split a rain-shortened doubleheader against Little Three Rival Canisius Wednesday afternoon at Fred Handler Park. They fell in game one, 2-0, and won game two, 1-0, after the game was called in the middle of the 5th inning due to severe thunderstorms. The lone Bona run of the afternoon scored when Billy Urban doubled in Jason Radwan in the 4th inning of the second game. Game two starter Nick Brennen picked up his first win of the season in limiting the Golden Griffins to three hits over his five innings of work.
SCOUTING XAVIER: The Musketeers have won three of their last four outings, and are coming off a 7-5 loss Tuesday at city rival Cincinnati. Last weekend Xavier swept conference foe Massachusetts in a three-game series. Offensively, Ben Thomas leads the Musketeers with a .389 batting average, 11 doubles, 12 home runs, 42 RBI, and a .718 slugging percentage. In conference games, the senior lefty leads the A-10 with eight home runs, 19 RBI, and 49 total bases. The Musketeers were picked to finish second in the A-10 in preseason voting, but are currently tied for seventh place. However, three conference loses came at the hands of nationally ranked, and league leader, Charlotte, and they lost two of three in a tilt with Richmond.
BATTLE ON THE BUMP:
GAME 1 PROBABLES: Eddie Gray (LHP) vs. Jon Richard (LHP)
Gray (4-2), reigning A-10 Pitcher of the Week, hopes to jump-start the Bonnies in the series. Gray leads the team with a 2.73 ERA in eight starts. In 56 innings, he has given up 21 runs, walked 27 and struck out 42. Richard (3-3) holds a 3.25 ERA in 10 appearances this season. He's walked 17 and struck out 28 batters in 61 innings of work.
GAME 2 PROBABLES: Jordan Crane (RHP) vs. Tyler Koors (RHP)
Crane (1-2) is second on the team in ERA (3.54). He has appeared in 10 games, and in 31.1 innings has given up 16 runs, walked 12 and struck out 20. He also has one of the Bonnies' five recorded saves on the season. Crane has been dominating against left-handed batters, as in 40 at bats lefties are hitting only .125 against him. Koors (3-3) sports a 5.44 ERA in his 51.1 innings of work. In nine appearances he's given up 36 runs on 62 hits while walking 13 and striking out 20.
GAME 3 PROBABLES: Andrew Revello (RHP) vs. Vinny Nittoli (RHP)
Revello (1-3) enters the game with a 3.76 ERA, good for third on the club. In 10 appearances he has only walked eight batters and struck out 21 in 40.2 innings of work. He also leads the team in saves with two. Just like Crane, he has been impressive against lefties. In 44 at bats, they are only hitting 1.82 against him. Nittoli (5-1) leads Xavier in wins. He sports an ERA of 4.08 in 46.1 innings and has walked 17 and struck out 33 in nine appearances.
LAST 10 GAMES: Over the last 10 games, Sophomore Billy Urban – reigning A-10 Player of the Week – leads the Bona offense by hitting for a .375 average. He has scored six runs and has nine RBI, while boosting his slugging percentage to .563. Catcher Michael Grieco is batting .367 over the last 10 contests, with 11 hits, six RBI and a slugging percentage of .600. After that, three more Bonnies are hitting over .300. Brad Steinbach (.364), Radwan (.344) and Jamie Wallschlaeger (.304) round out the five. Andrew Revello has an ERA of 0.00 in three appearances, striking out three and earning two saves.
A-10 TOP-10 Three Bona pitchers are in the A-10 top-10 in pitching. Cael Johnson comes in third with a conference ERA of 1.32. Revello (2.66) and Gray (2.70) come in at nine and 10, respectively. Those three have helped propel the pitching staff to fourth in the conference in league games with a staff ERA of 3.44.
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?: After finishing last season statistically as the worst pitching staff in the A-10, the Bona rotation has had a near complete 180 this season, particularly over the past 10 games. The Bonnies are 7-3 in their last 10, and the staff has lowered its collective ERA every single game since April 10. On that day – game three of the Fordham series – the Bonnies had a 6.31 team ERA. They have lowered it more than a full run in their last 10 games to its current level of 5.21.
