DAYTON, Ohio – The St. Bonaventure University baseball team fell to Dayton, 21-11, in the season finale on the road Saturday afternoon.
The Bonnies jumped out ahead of the Flyer 2-0 in the first inning of Saturday's finale.
Jayce Tharnish scored the first run of the day on a wild pitch. A few batters later, Mike Gunning continued his strong weekend with an RBI single, scoring David Marshall Jr. from third.
The Flyers, however, answered with two runs of their own on a single and a double in the bottom half of the first to tie the game.
The Bonnies took control of the game in the top of the second, scoring five runs on four hits in the inning.
Morgan Little opened the scoring with an RBI single up the middle before Marshall and Chris Hoalcraft belted back-to-back run scoring doubles.
Harrison Kaufman capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly, pushing the Bonnies lead to 7-2.
Dayton pulled one back in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly.
Kaufman registered his second RBI of the afternoon with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, giving the Bonnies back their five-run lead.
The Flyers clawed their way back in the game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on two hits and cutting the Bonnies lead to 8-6.
Dayton continued to rally, taking a 13-8 lead in the bottom of the fifth with seven runs in the inning.
The Bonnies looked to start a rally in the top of the sixth when Tharnish and Gavin Contantine came around to score on a wild pitch and an error. Kaufman cut the deficit to two, 13-11, with his second home run in as many at-bats.
A six-run bottom half of the sixth for the Flyers put the game out of reach for good.
The hosts secured the win with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.
Tharnish, Marshall, Kaufman and Little finished with two hits each for the Brown and White.
The Bonnies finish the season 20-29 overall and 11-19 in Atlantic 10 play.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH JASON RATHBUN
"It's never easy to say goodbye. This team had a memorable three weeks to finish the season. This season provided memories that will last a lifetime. This group of seniors paved the way for the future of this program. The future is bright and look forward to taking another step forward next year. I wish the seniors the best of luck and I know they will be successful in life."
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