By Eustace Q. Browne
Staff Writer
As their season rolls along, the St. Bonaventure softball team (3-20) continues to slide further into the Atlantic 10 conference’s cellar.
The Bonnies return home after falling twice in Vestal, N.Y. to the Binghamton Bearcats (9-10) on April 1.
Coach Michael Threehouse expressed his concern about the team’s attitude toward the outcome of their games after their losses at La Salle. It doesn’t seem the team took the talk to heart, as they lost 4-2 in the first game at Binghamton and 6-5 in the final game.
Freshman pitcher Kristen Hickling started the first game at Binghamton, which is her 11th start of the season for the Bonnies. Hickling recorded three strikeouts and allowed two walks, four earned runs and six hits in six innings on the mound.
Bonnies starting pitcher, sophomore Carly Bilchak, received the call to start the second game. Bilchak went six innings and recorded three strikeouts and allowed a walk along with six runs (three earned) and 10 hits.
The Bonnies defense failed Bilchak, as two errors by junior third baseman Grace Rooney allowed three unearned runs to score.
The games at Binghamton, while important, were non-conference games. The Bonnies are in the middle of a crucial stretch with six of the next eight games coming against conference foes. The team lost a doubleheader against La Salle and had games against George Mason canceled because of rain.
Despite the team’s poor record, the Bonnies still have a good chance of making the A-10 tournament. The Bonnies currently reside in the bottom of the A-10, but they are two games out of the sixth and final postseason slot which is currently held by Rhode Island.
Threehouse has maintained throughout the season that the most important games on the schedule are conference games. Now is the time for Threehouse and his team to put together a run. The Bonnies have a 12-game home stand that begins with a doubleheader against Saint Louis on Saturday and ends with a doubleheader against Dayton on April 19.
The most important aspect of the Bonnies two-week home stand is that eight out of the 12 games the team will play are conference games- Saint Louis, UMass, George Washington and Dayton.
Three of those four teams all have above 10 wins, while UMass is currently in the second-to-last position in the Atlantic 10 with a 3-14 record.
If the Bonnies wish to get into the A-10 tournament in May, now is the time for them to come together and tackle the part of the schedule that they have been placing an importance on all season.
The Bonnies’ next game will be against Saint Louis on Saturday in what will be the first home game of the season. Kristen Hickling will be the probable starter for the first game.
