ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure University baseball coaching staff has unveiled the new season schedule, highlighted by 16 home games.

Bona's will begin the 2023 season with its first four series on the road, traveling both South and West while waiting for the weather to warm at home.

First, the Bonnies take a trip to Tennessee for a four-game set at Middle Tennessee (Feb. 24-26), who finished 29-26 a year ago. Then, they will travel across the country to play at New Mexico for a four-game series to begin the month of March (3-5).

At Middle Tennessee, the Bonnies will face a team featuring a coaching staff including Blue Raiders assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Kevin Nichols. Nichols served as longtime head baseball coach/assistant athletic director at Erskine College (1999-2017), where he coached current Bonnies head coach Jason Rathbun from 2002-03.

The Bonnies will continue with a four-game series at Gardner-Webb March 10-12. St. Bonaventure will conclude its season-opening travel with a three-game set at Mount St. Mary's (March 17-19).

To open up the season at Fred Handler Park the Bonnies will welcome Merrimack for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 25, concluding with a single game on Sunday, March 26.

Atlantic 10 Conference play begins with a trip to Virginia to take on back-to-back Atlantic 10 champion VCU. VCU finished the 2021 season with a 42-20 overall record and won its first NCAA Regional game against Georgia, 8-1.

St. Bonaventure will host conference opponents Saint Louis (April 6-8), Rhode Island (April 14-16), UMass (April 28-30), and end the season with a three-game set against George Washington (May 18-20) on the Fred Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field turf.

The Bonnies will play non-conference doubleheaders at defending America East champion Binghamton April 4 and against Canisius on April 11 home, as well host as a single game against Niagara on Tuesday, April 18.

In Atlantic 10 play, St. Bonaventure will travel to George Mason (April 21-23) and then have back-to-back series on the road with a matchup at Atlantic 10 runner-up from a season ago Richmond (May 5-7) with the next weekend series slated at Dayton (May 11-13).

Non-conference play wraps with road mid-week matchups at Little Three rivals Canisius, the defending MAAC champion, (April 25) and Niagara (May 2).

For the 2023 campaign, the Bonnies will be under the leadership of Jason Rathbun, who was announced as the new head coach in August.

Rathbun comes to St. Bonaventure after turning Herkimer Community College baseball into one of the most successful and consistent junior college programs in the country during his 17 years at the helm, posting a 556-180 overall record and claiming a national championship last season.  Longtime Bonnies assistant B.J. Salerno, '09, joins as Associate Head Coach.

Veteran Bonnies leadership includes senior Jackson DeJohn who was a mainstay as the starting backstop for the Bonnies last spring, hitting .248 with 34 hits and driving in 14 runs with one of the A-10's best arms behind the plate. Fellow seniors Danny Manion (.261/four homers/22 RBIs) and Christian Szablewski (15 starts in 2021 after returning from a cancer diagnosis earlier in the spring) look to bring veteran leadership on the diamond this season. Infielders Pierce Hendershot (66 games played in three seasons), Jack Putney (28 games played last spring, .284), Thomas Grilli (.290/31 hits) and Jagger Nucci (30 games played last season) bring experience to the Bonnies lineup this season.

On the mound, graduate student Liam Devine led the Bonnies last season, posting 68.1 innings of work while striking out 55 batters. Seniors Tripp Breen (10 starts/47 strikeouts) and Kyle Caringi (15 appearances/39 strikeouts) have logged extensive innings at the A-10 level as well. A pair of sophomores in Luke Roggenburk (47 innings pitched/29 strikeouts) and Bryce Hediger (41 innings pitched/24 strikeouts) look to throw consistent innings for the Bonnies this season after impressive debuts last year. Devine and Roggenburk were both selected as New York Collegiate Baseball League all-stars this summer.

Out of the bullpen, the Bonnies bring back experience in senior Rushil Bhat (22 appearances/29.2 innings pitched), along with junior Ryan O'Connell (17 appearances/22 strikeouts) and sophomore Gabe Watts (18 appearances/23 innings pitched).

An array of new players join the roster as well with Rathbun adding 19 new players in camp this fall including six transfers with previous experience at the collegiate level.

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