By Dominic LoVallo
Assitant Sports Editor
St. Bonaventure baseball is making a push towards the A10 playoffs, and the team is exceeding expectations around the league. The Bonnies finished last after its campaign last year, but now are 4-5 in conference play and three of those losses came against one of the top teams in the conference, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Freshman outfielder Sam Fuller doesn’t have a clue about what other teams thought of the Bonnies coming into the year, but he does know that they should be considered a threat.
“I’m not sure if we are looked at as a threat or a challenge, but we should be,” Fuller said. “We feel we played well against VCU the first two games, but just came up a little short. Overall, we have been playing good baseball, and if teams overlook us they could easily get beat.”
The team has now won its past two conference series after it was able to take down the Dayton Flyers last Friday (4-3) and Saturday (6-3). Sunday, the Bonnies were unable to finish the sweep of the Flyers when in the 12th inning, the Flyers were able to win the game 13-12.
For sophomore utility player Aaron Phillips, the team left Dayton unhappy with the outcome, but happy they were able to take the two wins they did.
“Dayton was a team we knew we were capable of sweeping, so it was actually a bit of a letdown when we did not win all three,” Phillips said. “The feeling on the bus home was that it wasn’t a great trip, but it definitely wasn’t a bad trip.”
The key factor many of the players are attributing to the team’s success so far this season is the pitching.
“The biggest strength this year has been our pitching staff,” senior designated hitter (DH) Ted Dilts said. “Our starting three has posted the best ERA (Earned Run Average) in conference and our defense has been very solid.”
Phillips echoed Dilts, noting how consistent the Bonnies’ pitchers have been all season.
The key factor many of the players are attributing to the team’s success so far this season is the pitching.
“The biggest strength this year has been our pitching staff,” senior designated hitter (DH) Ted Dilts said. “Our starting three has posted the best ERA (Earned Run Average) in conference and our defense has been very solid.”
Phillips echoed Dilts, noting how consistent the Bonnies’ pitchers have been all season.
“The biggest strength for us this year has been pitching,” Phillips said “Our pitchers have kept us in almost every game all year long.”
The team has also improved its hitting from last season, according to Fuller. The Bonnies have been leaving fewer players stranded on the base paths and have been getting more batters hit in.
“Early in the year we struggled with runners on base especially with two outs. We left a lot of guys on the bases,” Fuller said. “This past weekend at Dayton, that changed with guys coming up big and getting the clutch hits we needed. Even if we didn’t get a hit, we put a good swing on the ball and just hit it right at someone.”
For Phillips, the attitude has also been more positive compared to last season, and he thinks the team has really excelled because of that.
“I would say attitude honestly,” Phillips said. “We all believe we have a chance to do something special and that mentality did not show itself last year.”
The team is going to try to improve on its 4-5 record today at 3 p.m. when it takes on the Rhode Island Rams, who are only two spots ahead of the team in the standings with a 5-4 record.
Dilts says the team is going into this game with a playoff atmosphere because of what winning this series could do for it.
“We are taking this series as a playoff game because we need to win at least two of three to stay above .500, and keep our chances of making the playoffs strong,” Dilts said.
The Bonnies’ series against the Rams will continue on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon. The team will then be at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) Tuesday for a doubleheader with the first game starting at 2 p.m.
lovalldv15@bonaventure.edu
