NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure baseball team split the Wednesday afternoon doubleheader against the Niagara Purple Eagles with a 2-1 loss in game one and a 12-7 victory in game two.  

Game One:
In a fast paced game at Bobo Field at Niagara University, St. Bonaventure suffered a one-run defeat to the Purple eagles by a score of 2-1. Niagara jumped out to an early one-run led after the first inning and then later tacked one in the sixth to double its lead. The Bonnies attempted another come-from-behind victory in the final inning again, but were held to only one run in the top of the seventh.

To lead off the game for Niagara's right fielder, Anthony Firenzi notched a single through the right side. During the next at-bat, Firenzi stole second and then advanced to third on a passed ball. The first run of the game was tallied when Joel Klock popped out in foul territory, which allowed Firenzi to score from third.

The game remained 1-0 up until the sixth inning when the Niagara Purple eagles doubled their lead. With one out already on the board, Michael Fuhrman walked and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Fuhrman came home to score when Greg Rodgers flied out to the right field for sac-fly RBI. After six innings the Bonnies trailed by two-runs.

The Brown and White finally pushed a run across in the top of the seventh after a wild pitch from the pitcher that allowed Tyler Bell to score from third. With a runner on second and no outs, St. Bonaventure failed to capitalize on its opportunity and the next three batters went down in order.

The game consisted of a combined six hits between the two teams, including four of them for the Bonnies. Both runs for the Purple Eagles were off fly outs, which the runner tagged up at third base.

On the mound for the Bonnies was Joel Rosencrance who threw a total of five innings and only allowed one run on one hit and struck out three.

Game Two:
The Brown and White powered 10 runs across the board in the third inning to earn its seventh win of the season, including their first victory over the Purple Eagles this season by a score of 12-7. St. Bonaventure went on to tally a total of 17 hits in the game, which was good for tying the second-highest hit total they have recorded this season.

St. Bonaventure third-baseman, Joel Rosencrance, led the charge in the first inning when he homered to left center to score Thad Johnson. Despite the two-run lead heading into the bottom of the second, Niagara tacked on four runs. Among those four runs was a double down the left field line to score two.

The Bonnies' offense came alive in the third when they knocked in 10 runs on seven hits and forced four errors on the Purple Eagles. Dylan Dunn got things started by following in the footsteps of Rosencrance in the first by notching a homerun to left field. To follow Dunn, Tyler Bell doubled to left center and then stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher.After an error, hit batter and a walk, Jared Baldinelli came to the plate with bases loaded and two outs and connected on a pitch that went through the right side to score Bret Heath and Brian Weightman. At the top of the order, Thad Johnson singled to right field to bring in Baldinelli and Justin Brozick. Following Johnson was the hot-hitting Rosencrance, who doubled to right center for the seventh run of the inning. St. Bonaventure went on to bat around in the inning when Dunn came back up to the plate and repeated his last performance by drilling one over the left center wall. Weightman ended the scoring for the Bonnies when he singled up the middle that allowed Bell to score.

After the third inning, St. Bonaventure went into defensive mode to attempt to hold onto the game, which they would just do that as they only allowed three runs in the final four innings to clinch their five-run victory.

The Bonnies' first four batters combined for 10 RBI and 11 hits on the day. Rosencrance and Dunn each posted three RBI, while Baldinelli and Johnson both earned two RBI apiece.

Today's doubleheader marked the third straight time where the Bonnies have earned the split by winning game two. They previously defeated Saint Louis and Buffalo in game two by scores of 8-7 and 6-4, respectively.

On Deck:
The Bonnies returns to Atlantic 10 Conference action this weekend at A-10 newcomer George Mason. The Patriots are 5-2 in league play, and the three games are scheduled for Friday (3 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).