MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – St. Bonaventure built a lead in the middle innings and made it stick late, holding off Middle Tennessee for a 6-5 win to even the three-game series Saturday afternoon in the Volunteer State.
Joey Calabretti put together three hits, an RBI and scored three runs to highlight the offense while Manuel Castro also posted two hits. Six different players were credited RBIs in the win for St. Bonaventure (3-3).
Bona jumped on the board early with a first inning run, scoring on an RBI groundout by Chris Hoalcraft. In the fourth, Antonio Cordeiro gave the Bonnies another run on an infield single.
MTSU used a pair of Bonnies errors to score two unearned runs, one in each the third and fourth frames to send the game to the fifth all tied, 2-2.
Anthony Fernandez's sacrifice fly pushed the Bonnies ahead by a tally in the fifth before three walks and an infield single in the sixth allowed the Bonnies to push the lead to 4-2, however, SBU left the bases loaded without being able to blow the game open.
A half inning later, the Blue Raiders left the bases loaded themselves as they used two walks and a single to fill the basepaths before reliever Tristan Ciampa coaxed a flyout to end the threat.
Run-scoring hits from Calabretti and Brian Carrothers gave the Bonnies some breathing room in the seventh, stretching the cushion to four.
The hosts cut their deficit in half, however, with back-to-back two-out RBI doubles in the seventh to close within two runs.
Middle Tennessee continued chipped away, getting back within a run on an eighth inning sacrifice fly.
Just 24 hours removed from a walk-off win by the Blue Raiders, the Bonnies would not be denied on Saturday as Ciampa picked up the final three outs, working around a two-out single to lock down the save.
Nolan Feidt earned his first Division I win on the hill, tossing 5.2 innings without allowing an earned run. He struck out two and walked four, scattering three hits.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JASON RATHBUN
"Our pitching has given us a chance to win both games this weekend. It was great to get the offense going today. These have been two really fun games to be a part of and I'm glad we were able to hold on to the win today. These type of games will help us as the season goes on."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies and Blue Raiders will wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Central Time.
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