PHILADELPHIA, PA – The St. Bonaventure baseball team lost both games of their doubleheader against La Salle on Friday afternoon. The Bonnies lost 11-8 on a walk-off grand slam in game one and dropped game two 18-9.
Joey Calabretti powered the Bonnies offense in both games. The junior had home runs in each contest and finished the day with five hits and five RBI.
La Salle's standout performer of the day was Jayden Novak. The Explorers' catcher hit four home runs over the two games, totaling 11 RBI on the day.
Game 1: St. Bonaventure 8, La Salle 11
St. Bonaventure found themselves down from the jump after La Salle put up three runs in the first inning.
In the second, the Bonnies got on the board.
Christian Lamothe tripled to start the inning, and
Antonio Cordeiro followed with an RBI double to get the Bonnies their first run.
In the bottom of the third, La Salle added a pair of runs to their lead to make it a 5-1 ballgame.
Half an inning later, the Bonnies tied it.
A pair of hits from Calabretti and Lamothe and a hit by pitch from Cordeiro loaded the bases with no outs. After a
Conner Vercollone sacrifice fly brought in one run,
Joey Bruno
launched a three-run home run over the left field fence to even the score at 5-5.
La Salle took a two-run lead in the sixth on Novak's first home run of the day.
St. Bonaventure responded an inning later to take their first lead of the day.
An RBI single from
Chris Hoalcraft brought the Bonnies within a run for the moment, and then Calabretti's first home run of the day pushed St. Bonaventure ahead 8-7.
The Bonnies would remain ahead by a run until the bottom of the ninth. After La Salle loaded the bases with two outs, Novak launched his second home run of the game in the fashion of a walk-off grand slam, securing the Explorers a game one victory.
Game 2: St. Bonaventure 9, La Salle 18
La Salle was once again first on the scoreboard in game two, bringing home two runs in the second inning.
In the third, the Bonnies' offense broke out.
After a Bruno double led off the inning,
Anthony Fernandez singled to right field for their first run. Lamothe singled in the next at-bat to put two runners on, and Calabretti followed with his second home run of the day to give St. Bonaventure the lead.
Conner Vercollone added another run later in the inning, making it a 5-2 game.
Over the next few innings, the Explorers responded with nine unanswered runs that gave them an 11-5 lead.
The Bonnies attempted to start a comeback in the sixth.
Fernandez brought St. Bonaventure within four with a two-run home run, and Christian Lamothe added an RBI single to cut La Salle's lead to 11-8.
From there, the Bonnies went silent once again. The Explorers added seven more runs over the following few innings.
A
Joey Bruno RBI single in the ninth gave the Bonnies their ninth run of the game, but the game ended in a 18-9 victory for La Salle.
UP NEXT
The Bonnies wrap up their series with the Explorers on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m.
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