By Nick Konotopskyj
Assistant Sports Editor
After three close losses over the weekend at the University of Massachusetts, the St. Bonaventure softball team bounced back Tuesday, taking both games of the doubleheader against Niagara.
In the first game, the Bonnies jumped out to a two-run lead after the first inning, and that ended up being enough as they defeated Niagara 9-1 in five innings.
“It is awesome because it gave us double-digit wins,” freshman pitcher Josie Borysevicz said. “We just want to keep that (momentum) going into our games later in the week and then into the weekend.”
Borysevicz was the starting pitcher in game one and went five innings, only surrendering four hits and one run with five strikeouts and one walk. The win improved her record to 9-8 on the season, the best record on the pitching staff.
The two wins in the series improved the Bonnies record to 11-19 (5-10 in the A-10). Despite the wins, the team understands that after losing to UMass, they need to win out in order to qualify for the Atlantic 10 tournament.
“It definitely wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” Borysevicz said. “It told us that we need to step up our game and really bring it if we want to go to A-10s.”
Coach Mike Threehouse said he was pleased by his team’s effort on Tuesday and is excited about their upcoming games to close out the season.
“We came out and played extremely well today,” Threehouse said. “We hit the ball, we got some decent pitching, and played some good defense, so I was happy with the way they came out and played.”
Only six of the 10 teams in the A-10 make it to the conference tournament, and in order for the Bonnies to qualify, they will likely have to win all of their remaining six conference games. They can make it winning five out of six, but they would need help from other teams in the conference.
“We’ve got two big series coming up- one against Rhode Island and one against Saint Joe’s,” Threehouse said. “If we take care of business, then we have a shot to go, so we are going to keep moving forward.”
Although it will be tough to win out in conference, the remaining schedule for the Bonnies is manageable. Rhode Island is the worst team in the conference, and Saint Joseph’s is only one game ahead of the Bonnies in the standings.
“We definitely need to come out on top of our game,” Borysevicz said. “We just need to keep putting up wins and solid performances. If we just keep doing what we’ve been doing, I expect us to make it to A-10’s.”
The Bonnies’ next games will be played tomorrow at Rhode Island in a doubleheader at noon and 2 p.m. Then they play the Rams again Sunday at noon The Bonnies will then travel to non-conference opponents Youngstown St. at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 and then at Canisius the next day at 3 p.m.
“It’s going to take every ounce of heart that we have,” Threehouse said. “They have to lay it all on the line and go out there to play with the possibility of failing. If you go out there and leave it all on the line, then you can hold your head high no matter what happens. We have an opportunity ahead of us, and there is no reason this team can’t respond to that opportunity.”
