By Nathan Soloman, Sports Assignment Editor
After being swept in a four-game series by George Mason, the St. Bonaventure Softball team traveled to nearby Binghamton looking for their first victories of the 2021 campaign. Unfortunately, the Bonnies were unable to do so, dropping contests 8-0 and 7-3 to the Bearcats.
“We were in quarantine all week long, so we only had one practice on Saturday before we got to play [Binghamton] on Sunday,” coach Mike Threehouse said. “You’re playing ball at the Division l level; you can’t rely on one practice over the course of the week.”
In game one, the Bearcats came out swinging, scoring seven runs off starting pitcher Tierney Fitzgerald and chasing her to the dugout after just 1.1 innings of work.
“We haven’t played many games and we’re so young,” Threehouse said. “It’s one of those things of getting out there and getting reps in. You can play so many innings against your own team and your own hitters, but until you can find some other hitters you can face, you’re not really sure what your best pitches [are] and how your best pitches are working.”
However, Fitzgerald’s rough outing didn’t matter much as the Bonnies were held without a hit in game one against the Bearcats.
“Anytime we aren’t swinging the bats like we think we’re capable of, it’s a little interesting,” Threehouse said. “Hitting is contagious, so when a couple start hitting, I think the whole team will start hitting.”
The Bonnies’ bats finally started to wake up in game two as they were able to register four hits in the night cap of the doubleheader. Fitzgerald, Kennedy Haberl, Grace Perechinsky and Abagail Stone each recorded hits with both Stone’s and Fitzgerald’s for extra bases. Ally Haskell allowed just two earned runs over four innings of work, but costly errors allowed the Bearcats to score five unearned runs in the ballgame.
“We’ve had five good outings from pitchers, [but] we have to sure up our defense a little bit,” Threehouse said. “I have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who haven’t experienced this level of play before [because of the COVID-19 pandemic], so we’re a very young team……We’re just trying to learn the ropes here.”
The three runs scored in game two against the Bearcats were the most scored by the Bonnies this season. They’ve been shut out twice, and are batting just .108 as a team. Just four Bonnies have multiple hits this season.
After opening A10 play with four losses against George Mason, the Bonnies head to Dayton to search for their first conference wins of the season. The Flyers are 5-12 and coming off a 13-5 loss to Miami (OH) on Wednesday.
“We just got to start gaining confidence and understanding that we can play at this level,” Threehouse said. “The goals and expectations are to always win games, but at the same time, we have to get better at what we do…making sure we catch the ball, we throw the ball, we pitch the ball, we hit the ball.”
Saturday’s doubleheader with the Flyers begins at 2 p.m., while Sunday’s doubleheader begins at noon. Fans can follow live stats and the game feed online.
solomonj20@bonaventure.edu
