ST. BONAVENTURE (7-4) at #1/2 TENNESSEE (13-0)
Friday – Sunday, March 7-9
Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network+
Radio: UTSports.com

LEADING OFF
St. Bonaventure continues its Spring Break trip to the Volunteer State with a three-game series at defending national champion Tennessee. The Bonnies are in the midst of playing seven consecutive games in the state of Tennessee: Bona's began the trip by winning their first three games last weekend in round robin play at Middle Tennessee, scoring victories over Old Dominion, host MTSU and UT Martin. Bona then dropped a midweek contest Wednesday at No. 17/18 Vanderbilt - the Bonnies and Commodores were tied, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth after two scoreless innings on the hill from David James and a homer off the bat of Antonio Cordeiro but nine Bonnies walks and three hit batters opened the door for a seven-run 6th and a 14-1 final.

This weekend's series will stream entirely through SEC Network+ and also on the ESPN app.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday (6:00 p.m.) – RHP James Capellupo (1-0, 3.07) vs. LHP Liam Doyle (2-0, 0.61)
Saturday (6:00 p.m.) – RHP Michael Salina (1-0, 3.14) vs. RHP Marcus Phillips (0-0, 1.35 ERA)
Sunday (1:00 p.m.) – RHP David James (0-0, 4.66) vs. TBD

BONNIES VS. NATIONALLY RANKED FOES
With four games in a row vs. Top 25 opponents, the Bonnies seek their first win over a nationally ranked foe since winning at No. 23 Charlotte on May 11, 2007, 4-1. Bona's highest ranked win in program history: A 1-0 win at then-No. 10 Richmond on March 28, 2003. St. Bonaventure has never before faced a No. 1 ranked team on the diamond.

HOT START
At 7-3 overall entering this week, the Bonnies had their best start through 10 games since the 2016 campaign when the program opened at 8-2. St. Bonaventure began the season by taking three of four at Gardner-Webb before falling in the rubber game of a three-game neutral series vs. Morehead State and then sweeping round robin play vs. three different opponents at MTSU. The Bonnies have held a lead in all but two games so far, the lone
outliers being a 1-0 walkoff win for Morehead State Feb. 22 and Wednesday's game at Vandy.

HOT BATS
St. Bonaventure's offense has been hot to begin the year, averaging over nine runs per game entering the week. The Bonnies have scored double figures five times including a lucky 13 in each of the last two wins. Entering this week, the Bonnies stood 26th in Division I in runs per game (9.2).

POWER MOVES
The Bonnies will seek to pick up another power conference victory this week against SEC foes Vandy and Tennessee. Bona scored two such wins last spring - earning a win at ACC opponent Louisville before winning a game at Big Ten foe Penn State.

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Bonnies redshirt senior outfielder Paul Vossen wrote his name into both the SBU and national record books as he went 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts in the March 2 win over UT Martin. His performance not only set the Bona's single-game program record but was one off the national NCAA Division I record of eight stolen bases. The Nevada native recorded the most stolen bases in a game by any Division I player since 2001 when Bobby Kingsbury of Fordham tied the national record set by King Lewis of Bethune-Cookman in 1994.

Bona's previous record of five stolen bases in a game stood since 1992 when Glenn Hamel set that mark in a game against Davis & Elkins.

THARNISH AT THE TOP
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Jayce Tharnish has been the spark plug of the Bonnies offense, hitting out of the leadoff spot in every game thus far. He entered this week slashing .419/.500/628 with two homers and 13 RBIs. He's a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts to rank third among all Division I players in stolen bases thus far. His 18 runs scored also stand 17th overall nationally and his 1.8 runs per game stand sixth in the country. He also has collected 1.8 hits per game, ranking 35th nationally.

The Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for the first week of the season, Tharnish has already collected seven multi-hit games and five games of multiple RBIs.

ON A STREAK
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Conner Vercollone has been one of the bright spots in Bona's outstanding start. Vercollone redshirted last season and then shined in summer ball, earning Futures League All-Star honors. Entering this weekend, he has reached base in all 11 games this season.

Morgan Little is right behind Vercollone, having reached base in 10 straight games entering the UT series.

ONE TO WATCH
Bonnies junior right-hander Michael Salina will have the attention of MLB scouts throughout the spring. Entering the season, Salina was named by both D1Baseball and Perfect Game as the top MLB Draft prospect in the Atlantic 10. He led the Bonnies with 64 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work last season and has hit over 100 mph on the radar gun throughout fall ball. Salina struck out nine in six innings to pick up the win at MTSU last weekend.

ABOUT TENNESSEE

• Tennessee is ranked No. 1 in this week's Baseball America Top 25 while slotting No. 2 in the D1Baseball Poll.
• In 2024, Tennessee won 60 games, finishing the year by hosting the NCAA Championship trophy.
• The Volunteers have started the season 13-0 and have outscored opponents 163-32.
• Sophomore infielder Dean Curley was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List while junior pitchers Nate Snead and Andrew Behnke both earned spots on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List.
• Tennessee has batted .351 as a team thus far while also posting a sparkling 2.06 team ERA to rank second nationally in both runs (12.5 per game) and staff ERA.
• The matchup between Tennessee and St. Bonaventure is the first in program history. 

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