EMMITSBURG, MD – St. Bonaventure built a big lead and held on late for a 10-7 victory Saturday afternoon over Mount St. Mary's thanks to some early offense and timely pitching in the final innings.
Christian Szablewski homered twice and drove in three runs while Jackson DeJohn and Conner Vercollone each had two RBIs to power the offense.
The Bonnies struck early as Szablewski homered to center for a two-run shot in the first and a 2-0 advantage.
The Mount got a run back in the home half and tied things up, 2-2, with a run in the third.
St. Bonaventure soon flexed its muscle again, though, hitting three long balls between the fourth and fifth frames to surge ahead.
First, Mark Darakjy blasted a no-doubt homer to left in the fourth to break the tie.
An inning later, DeJohn and Szablewski went back-to-back as the Bonnies moved ahead 6-2 following the second round-tripper of the day from the Bonnies first baseman.
Vercollone gave the Bonnies what would be needed insurance in the sixth as he came through with some clutch two-out hitting.
The Bona's freshman outfielder doubled to left to bring in a pair of runs with two away for a six-run edge.
Mount St. Mary's would not go away, however, playing long ball themselves to close within 8-5 with two homers in the sixth.
Thomas Grilli provided some further breathing room in the seventh, poking a hit through the left side. Szablewski came around from second, just beating the throw from left for a 9-5 score. Later in the inning, Jake Biscailuz created the 10th run of the day on a sacrifice fly.
The Mount had a golden opportunity to get back in the game in the eighth.
With the bases loaded and one away, Liam Devine picked up a strikeout vs. The Mount two-hole hitter, then a grounder off the bat of the hosts' leading hitter Aiden Tierney resulted in a ball in the hole at short. Bonnies shortstop Chris Hoalcraft made the diving stop and threw out the runner at third by a step to put out the fire.
Mount St. Mary's (8-9) had another chance in the ninth, but Devine delivered a strikeout for the game's final out.
Gabe Watts started and earned the win with a career-high nine strikeouts without walking a batter. Ryan O'Connell picked up four outs, allowing one run in relief, while Devine registered his second save of the year with the final five outs, striking out two.
The Bonnies and Mountaineers finish the series with a rubber game Sunday afternoon.
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