CLINTON, S.C. – Presbyterian outlasted the St. Bonaventure baseball team in a 13-inning marathon, 5-4, to take the series victory in the rubber game of their three-game set Saturday afternoon.
Aaron Hobson led off the home half of the 13th with a single, moving to second on a wild pitch and to third on a balk. That allowed Jay Wetherington to be the hero for the Blue Hose with a game-winning single to right, breaking a 4-4 deadlock.
Bona's led early as Adam Rankie and Jack Putney combined extra-base hits with a Rankie triple leading into the Putney RBI double for a 1-0 lead.
Presbyterian surged ahead with three in the second, but the Bonnies inched closer following a sacrifice fly off the bat of Antonio Cordeiro after four.
Three straight Blue Hose singles in the fifth led to another run for the hosts to lead by two once more and that score remained until the seventh.
A Blue Hose error opened the door for a run and allowed the Bonnies to get within 4-3, but they could not get any closer despite loading the bases with one out.
SBU tied it up in the ninth as Kyle Caccamise started the rally with a leadoff single, moving to third on an error. Cordeiro then worked a bases loaded walk to force in the tying run with the Bonnies down to their final out against Presbyterian closer Tanner Smith, who was named to the preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List as one of the best relievers in Division I.
With the score tied 4-4, Bona reliever Tristan Ciampa found ninth inning trouble with runners at second and third and no outs. The junior college transfer locked in for three straight strikeouts, however, forcing extra innings.
Ciampa had his best outing as a Bonnie, working 4.1 innings while surrendering a run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts for a hard-luck loss. Kade Walker was also sold in relief with four innings of one-run work, walking one and striking out three. Noah Czajkowski started, tossing 3.2 frames and allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and a career-best six strikeouts.
Rankie and Caccamise each had two hits in Bona's longest game since another 13-inning 5-4 heartbreaker at North Carolina A&T on March 16, 2018.
Joel Dragoo had four hits for the Blue Hose (7-5). Robbie Boykin got the win with a scoreless inning on the hill.
St. Bonaventure (3-7) returns to action Wednesday with another contest against a power conference foe as the Bonnies play at Pittsburgh with first pitch slated for 3 p.m.
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