ST. BONAVENTURE (5-16, 1-5 A-10) at VCU (13-10, 5-1 A-10)
Friday - Sunday, March 27 - March 29
Richmond, Va.
TV: ESPN+

First Pitch
St. Bonaventure will travel to Virginia this weekend for their third conference series of the year against VCU. First pitch for game one has been moved up to 10:30 a.m. Friday due to inclement weather in the forecast.

The Bonnies are coming off their first "home" series of the season, which was played at Mercyhurst University while Fred Handler Park is being renovated. Despite losing the series to Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure picked up their first conference win of the year in last Sunday's finale. VCU traveled to Dayton last weekend, picking up a series win against the Flyers.

 Last Time Out
In their series finale against Saint Louis on Sunday, the Bonnies picked up their first conference win of the year in convincing fashion, beating the Billikens 14-3 in seven innings. St. Bonaventure got off to a hot start in the first two innings, putting nine runs on the board thanks to RBI hits from Anthony Fernandez and Antonio Cordeiro, and a bases clearing double from the bat of Christian Lamothe. Lamothe finished the day with five RBI, while Fernandez and Cordeiro each brought in three. Enger Paulino threw 6.2 innings in the contest, allowing only four hits and striking out eight to lead the Bonnies to victory.

Fern-tastic
Outfielder Anthony Fernandez had a team-high nine hits last weekend to lead the Bonnies offense, going 9-for-13 at the plate. The Rhode Island native is now hitting .400 through 22 games this season, ranking him fourth in the Atlantic 10 for batting average and putting him in the top 70 among all qualified Division I hitters. Fernandez leads St. Bonaventure this season in batting average, on-base percentage (.495), stolen bases (10), and runs scored (18). He enters this weekend having reached base safely in 17 consecutive games following two doubles in Tuesday's game at Penn State.

On-Base Machine
With hits in all three games this past weekend, Conner Vercollone has extended his on-base streak to 13 games following two walks on Tuesday. This ranks second for the Bonnies, with only Anthony Fernandez having a longer streak. Vercollone is hitting a career-high .288 this season, and his seven doubles have already passed his previous career-high (5), though he is still seeking his first home run of the year after smacking 10 homers last year. 

Swing And a Miss
In their series against Saint Louis this past weekend, Bonnies' starting pitchers recorded 26 strikeouts. This marks the most strikeouts that Bonnies' starting pitchers have recorded in a three-game series this season. Friday starter David James set a new career-high with 10 strikeouts in his appearance vs. the Billikens. With his 35 strikeouts on the season, James ranks third in the A-10 in the category.  

Fab Five
Freshman Christian Lamothe had a breakout game in St. Bonaventure's win over Saint Louis last Sunday. With a bases-clearing double in the second inning and a home run in the fourth, the freshman recorded a career-high five RBIs in the contest. Lamothe currently ranks fourth on the team with a .298 batting average.

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