ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure baseball team celebrated the opening of the newly renovated Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field by putting together an eighth-inning rally to break a tie and pull away for a 7-3 victory over Binghamton on an unseasonably warm Tuesday afternoon.
Manuel Castro provided the game-winning hit, igniting a five-run eighth with a one-out double down the left field line. He stepped to the plate with a 2-2 tie and finished his at-bat by strolling into second with a 4-2 Bona's advantage as both Chris Hoalcraft and Joey Calabretti scored ahead of him.
Later in the frame, the Bonnies tacked on with a double to deep center from Anthony Fernandez which plated Castro.
Antonio Cordeiro put the exclamation mark on the uprising with a no-doubt, two-run bomb to left center.
It was more than enough for Tristan Ciampa who earned the win with two innings on the hill without allowing an earned run.
The Bonnies got on the board first in the third inning.
Ashton Ross led off the inning with a single to right, and Calabretti got hit by pitch in the next at-bat to put two Bonnies on base. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Hoalcraft brought in the first run on a groundout to first. Castro followed with a single up the middle to make it a 2-0 game.
Binghamton responded to tie the game in the fifth.
After loading the bases with one out, the Bearcats brought in their first run on a walk. The tying run came home to score on a groundout, but the Bonnies were able to escape the inning without further damage.
Derek Duval started the game on the mound for the Bonnies, shutting out the Bearcats in three innings pitched. The senior gave up only two hits and struck out three batters.
Owen Smith took the mound for the fourth, allowing two runs over 1.1 innings. Eamon Giblin relieved Smith in the fifth and got out of a based-loaded jam. Giblin pitched a career-high 2.2 innings in the game, keeping Binghamton off the scoreboard and recording two strikeouts.
Castro went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs to power the Bona offense.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JASON RATHBUN
"Eamon did a really good job last week and came in a really tough situation with traffic on the bases. We needed some strikes and limit the damage and that's exactly what he did; really kept us in the game. Derek has been pitching better lately and he set the tone for us with some zeros.
"We've talked about finding that clutch hit and Manny found that today. He came up in a big spot and got a big hit for us. We have to learn how to win. We've had a lot of close games and haven't found a way to dig out the win. Today was a step in the right direction."
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure remains at home to begin a three-game series vs. George Washington beginning Thursday at 3 p.m.
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