ST. BONAVENTURE (9-24, 3-12 A-10) at RHODE ISLAND (15-20, 9-6 A-10)
Friday - Sunday, April 17 – 19
TV: Bonnies Online Network / ESPN+
Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field

First Pitch
St. Bonaventure returns home this weekend to take on Rhode Island in a conference matchup. The Bonnies are coming off a series last weekend that saw them be swept by Davidson in North Carolina. Rhode Island picked up a pair of wins to clinch a home series win over La Salle last weekend.

Schedule Changes
The weekend weather forecast has necessitated changes to the schedule for the weekend series.

Friday will now be a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. with game one streamed through the Bonnies Online Network and game two on ESPN+.

Saturday is slated for a 1 p.m. start on ESPN+. 

Probable Starting Pitching Matchups
Friday: David James (1-4, 3.17 ERA) vs. LHP Sam Houchens (0-2, 5.13)
Saturday: Nolan Feidt (2-5, 4.70 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Cullen (2-3, 3.90)
Sunday: Enger Paulino (2-5, 5.31 ERA) vs. RHP Evan Maloney (1-0, 4.56) 

Last Time Out
The Bonnies suffered late-game heartbreak in their series finale at Davidson last Sunday. The SBU offense gave the Bonnies a substantial lead, propelled by a five-run fifth inning and a three-run seventh inning. In the fifth, the Bonnies loaded the bases before walking in a run and scoring four more on errors by Davidson. In the seventh, Joey Calabretti launched a two-run home run and Chris Hoalcraft hit an RBI double to extend the Bonnies lead. After a Manuel Castro solo shot in the eighth, the Bonnies managed a 11-6 lead. The Wildcats answered with a five-run ninth inning though, sending the game to extra innings and hit a walk-off home run in the 10th to sweep the series.

Home Field Advantage
This weekend's series being at home will give the Bonnies a big advantage, at least on paper. The Bonnies are 4-1 at Handler Park this season, with their pitching staff pitching to a 1.40 ERA through 45.0 innings at home. Additionally, Rhode Island hasn't found much success on the road this season. The Rams hold just a 4-16 record when traveling to face their opponents.

Loading Up the Bases
One offensive aspect that St. Bonaventure has found a lot of success in this year is getting runners on base. All eight qualified Bonnies' hitters this season boast an on-base percentage of .300 or over, with two of them holding a percentage over .400 (Anthony Fernandez, .425, and Manuel Castro, .411).

Handy Manny
Third baseman Manuel Castro has emerged as a leader for the Bonnies' offense. In 32 games so far this season, the junior is batting .344 with an OPS of 1.045 and is leading the team in both home runs (7) and RBIs (34). Castro has also recorded 13 doubles this year, the third-most by any hitter in the A-10 this season.

Freshman Foundation
Bonnies freshman Christian LaMothe won a starting job thanks to his production at the plate early this season, taking over as the team's everyday first baseman. For the season LaMothe has hit .267 with two homers and 15 RBIs with a .374 on-base percentage, but in Atlantic 10 play his numbers are even better. In 15 conference games so far, he's second on the team by hitting .327 (behind only Castro's .349) while he is tied for second on the team with 10 RBIs vs. A-10 pitching along with Anthony Fernandez and Joey Calabretti, behind Castro with 18.

Making The Sacrifice
Second baseman Joey Bruno has been a quietly important part of the Bonnies' offense so far this season. The junior college transfer has recorded six sacrifice bunts so far this year, the most in the conference. His teammate, Gavin Constantine, ranks right behind him at third in the conference with five sacrifice bunts this year. Along with his ability to lay down the bunt, Bruno has been getting on-base at a clip of .375 this year. In his last eight starts, Bruno has started to come alive at the plate by hitting .280.

Series History
Rhode Island owns a 48-32 series advantage all-time dating back to 1993.

Rhode Island Notes

• Entering this weekend, Rhode Island is 15-20 including a 9-6 conference record
• The Rams are hitting .264 as a team, and have a team ERA of 6.37
• Last season, Rhode Island went 38-22, including a 22-8 record in the A-10, and won the A-10 Conference tournament championship. In the NCAA Tournament, the Rams went 0-2 with losses to Dallas Baptist and Little Rock
• Rhode Island was picked to repeat as conference champions in the A-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving five first-place votes
• In their series last season, the Rams won their first two games against the Bonnies before Bona's grabbed the series finale.
• Rhode Island starting pitcher Jake Cullen was the lone starting pitcher to return from last season. In his freshman campaign, the righty made 10 starts and threw 53.1 innings to a 5.57 ERA

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