ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – It took two days and over four hours of game time to complete, with 33 runs and 31 hits combined.
The final hit was a humpback liner into a soggy right-center field off the bat of Conner Vercollone to plate two runs and send the St. Bonaventure baseball team home a winner, 17-16, over VCU on a wild and wet Saturday afternoon at Handler Park.
Vercollone played the role of the hero while David Marshall Jr. made some Bona history with a 6-for-7 performance at the plate to tie the program's all-time single-game hit record.
The Bonnies began the day up 8-3 in the bottom of the third following the suspension of the contest Friday afternoon.
As the rain mounted, so did the drama once the game resumed on Saturday.
VCU struck first with a run to begin the game on Friday, but the Bonnies quickly answered with back-to-back doubles from Jayce Tharnish and Marshall to tie things up in the home half of inning number one.
Before the inning was over, the Bonnies sent 10 batters to the plate and scored eight times. Gavin Constantine, Antonio Cordeiro and Harrison Kaufman all added run-scoring hits during the uprising.
Tharnish doubled to the fence in left-center with one away in the third and stood in scoring position for Marshall when thunderstorms rolled in and halted play for the rest of the day.
When the game resumed Saturday at noon, Marshall wasted little time in adding to the Bona lead by punching a hit to left which brought in Tharnish for a 9-3 advantage.
VCU started clawing back in the fourth, using Bona pitching wildness to get back in the game as the Rams drew four consecutive walks with the bases loaded to draw within 9-7.
Marshall's fourth hit and RBI of the game pushed the Bona lead back out to 11-7 in the fourth, but the Rams kept rallying.
A three-run homer off the bat of Sean Swenson evened the tally at 11-apiece in the fifth.
The Bonnies had chances to pull back ahead in the sixth but left the bases loaded, then stranded runners at second and third in the seventh.
Hoalcraft broke the tie with his second homer of the weekend, a two-run shot for a 13-11 advantage.
Bona maintained its lead thanks to strong work on the hill from Ryan Kucy – the third baseman turned relief pitcher worked 2.2 scoreless innings before running into trouble in the ninth.
As the rain picked up in the ninth, the Rams mounted a last inning rally for the second consecutive day.
VCU (14-32, 7-16 A-10) scored five runs in the ninth on two home runs.
Nate Kirkpatrick put the Rams ahead with a pinch-hit, three-run homer that just cleared the top of the fence in left. Later in the frame, Swenson pushed the lead to 16-13 with a no-doubt bomb that had the Rams cruising.
With the rain becoming a downpour at times, the Bonnies began to rally back.
Ryan Davis drew a one-out walk, moving to second when Constantine was hit by a pitch. Another hit batter loaded the bases for Marshall who laced his sixth hit of the game through the left side for an RBI and a 16-14 score.
Hoalcraft delivered a sac fly to right, setting the stage for Harrison Kaufman who walked to load the bases for Vercollone.
The redshirt sophomore punched an 0-1 delivery to right-center, plating Tharnish and Marshall from second for the thrilling win.
Marshall became just the third player in program history to post six hits in a game, matching Bubba Hollins who did so at Davidson in 2017 as well as Randy Moley who recorded the feat vs. Boston College in 2008. He also came through with five RBIs during the game.
Tharnish and Constantine had three hits apiece with Hoalcraft, Cordeiro and Robert Mannino all hitting safely twice as part of Bona's 21-hit attack.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JASON RATHBUN
"It's been a crazy two days with weather and late inning baseball. Our guys stayed mentally tough and found ways to win. It's a fun group to be around and I couldn't be happier for them. I'm especially happy for our seniors."
NEXT UP
The teams meet for the final game of the three-game set Sunday at 11 a.m.
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