ST. BONAVENTURE (1-18, 0-3 A-10) at RHODE ISLAND (5-22, 2-1 A-10)
Friday (3:00 p.m.) / Saturday (1:00 p.m.) / Sunday (12:00 p.m.)
Kingston, R.I.
TV: ESPN+

The St. Bonaventure baseball team returns to Atlantic 10 play this weekend with the nearly eight-hour road trip to Rhode Island. The series gets underway Friday with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m., the second game slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. and the finale Sunday at noon.

MID-WEEK ACTION
St. Bonaventure finally made its 2022 home debut on Tuesday afternoon and came away with its first victory of the season, 7-3, vs. Binghamton. 

The Bonnies never trailed, scoring in each of the first three innings. Jackson DeJohn and Jagger Nucci drove in two runs apiece while Matthew Williams, Danny Manion and Pierce Hendershot all had RBIs as well.

Tripp Breen got the win with five innings of three-run ball and Liam Devine picked up his first career save with four shutout innings.

Tuesday's win was the first for B.J. Salerno as head coach. 

ON THE HILL
Bryce Hediger, Breen and Devine have momentum heading into this weekend given their most recent outings.

Hediger was outstanding in his Atlantic 10 start at George Washington last Saturday, allowing only two earned runs in six innings with four strikeouts and one walk. Breen fanned three in his five innings of work Tuesday and Devine allowed only two hits in his four innings of work against Binghamton. Usually a Friday starter, Devine will slide back in the conference rotation this weekend after throwing 31 of his 44 pitches for strikes Tuesday vs. Binghamton. 

AT THE PLATE
The Bonnies hope Tuesday's game will begin an awakening of the bats continuing this weekend. Six different players in the lineup collected hits in the non-conference triumph.

Williams and Hendershot lead the team with nine RBIs apiece and the team figures to benefit from the expected return of Thomas Grilli, who was hitting .350 in seven games before missing the past several contests due to injury. The Bonnies also have been without the services of senior outfielder Brendyn Stillman who hit .283 with two home runs and eight RBIs prior to suffering an injury late in non-conference play. He is expected to miss more time before returning later in A-10 play. 

DeJohn leads the regulars with a .260 batting average and a .373 on-base percentage in 16 starts.

ABOUT RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island's 5-22 overall record is a bit deceiving considering the Rams played South Alabama, Auburn, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 18 UConn in early season non-conference action, all in true road games. 

Rhody has showed signs of a turnaround as of late, taking one of three at UConn, a 6-2 victory March 26, and then opening A-10 play with back-to-back victories at Dayton (9-8, 11-1) after a 9-8 heartbreaker to begin the series. 

Anthony DePino provides a power bat (.290, 8 home runs, 15 RBIs) while Eric Genther (.265, 18 RBIs), Addison Kopack (.220, 14 RBIs) and Jack Cucinotta (.260, 13 RBIs) all provide run-scoring production in the lineup. 

Like the Bonnies, run-stopping has been an issue at times as the Rams have a 7.66 staff ERA. Trystan Levesque (1-5, 4.84 ERA, 35 strikeouts, 35.1 IP), Domenic Picone (1-3, 7.85 ERA, 38 strikeouts, 28.2 IP) and Ryan Twitchell (0-4, 8.37 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 23.2 IP) have logged the most starts on the hill for the Rams thus far.

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will finally get a chance to spend some time at home. The Bonnies are slated to host Little Three rival Canisius Tuesday (one game, 3 p.m.) and then Davidson in a three-game A-10 set next weekend at Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field.