By Pat Tintle
Sports Editor
A season of highs, lows—and ties—has been the story of the Bonnies’ 2015 performance.
The baseball team snapped its seven-game losing streak on Tuesday, as the Bonnies defeated Niagara in game one of a doubleheader by a score of 7-3. The team then tied the Purple Eagles in game two, 3-3, improving the Bonnies to a soccer-esque 11-9-2 record.
Baseball is not a sport usually associated with ties, but umpires were forced to call two Bonnies games short this season due to darkness. For veteran coach Larry Sudbrook, the “2” at the end of his team’s record is unfamiliar territory.
“I know during my 30 years (at St. Bonaventure), I’ve got probably four or five ties on my record,” Sudbrook said. “But to have two in the same year, let alone in two weeks against the same team, is really fluky.”
The Bonnies led the Purple Eagles 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning in game two. But a timely sacrifice fly from freshman third baseman Tanner Kirwer tied the game for the Purple Eagles.
With the game being cut short following the bottom of the seventh, Sudbrook’s team was forced to end the game early.
“(Ties) are nothing,” Sudbrook said. “They’re not frustrating, they’re not a good thing, they’re not a bad thing, they’re just: you played a game that day and nobody won. I suppose if there were anything that irritated me a bit, it is that baseball tries to be as anti-soccer as we can be, and we have two ties like a freaking soccer game.”
While the Bonnies have an 11-9-2 overall record, the team is 0-6 to start conference play, dropping three games each to George Washington and Richmond. With a three-game series against the University of Massachusetts starting today Sudbrook stated that, despite a good overall record, the Bonnies need to improve against fellow Atlantic 10 teams.
“When you start off 0-6, certainly just getting a win (will help),” Sudbrook said. “You definitely want to win a game or two, but just getting one probably isn’t what you need to do at this point in time. You probably need to win a couple more than that.”
The Bonnies will face UMass today at 3 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. in Amherst. While the Minutemen post a 6-10 overall record, the team is 5-4 in conference action – a challenge Sudbrook wants his team to overcome.
“UMass is always pretty good,” Sudbrook said. “And we’re at their place, so it’s going to be difficult. In our first six conference games, there’s three one-run losses and one two-run lose in there.”
Usually a strength for the team, the Bonnies have switched up their pitching rotation (which, prior to the Niagara series, gave up 35 runs in five games), according to Sudbrook.
“(Junior pitcher Connor Grey) will go game one,” Sudbrook said. “It’s possible (junior pitcher Steve) Klimek will go game two. (He’s struggled) but he has great stuff, a pro prospect even. But we’ll sit down and decide that.”
