Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY RYAN LOMBARDI, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The St. Bonaventure baseball team looks to get back on track with a four-game series at Middle Tennessee this weekend.
The Bonnies enter 3-7 on the year, coming off a series loss to Presbyterian. St. Bonaventure took Game 1 of the series, winning 2-0. Sophomore Michael Salina pitched a complete game. The Bonnies dropped Game 2, 12-6 and Game 3, 5-4 in 13 innings.
The Blue Raiders are 6-6 on the season and look to extend their three-game win streak. They beat Southeast Missouri State University 8-2 on Tuesday. Sophomore infielder Cale Vinson tallied three hits in the contest.
“We’re just trying to prepare and build. We can go out and battle with some of these teams,” coach Jason Rathbun said about playing non-conference opponents. “That’s going to give us a lot of confidence heading into conference play.”
Chance Moore will toe the rubber for the Bonnies in Game 1. The redshirt junior will make his fourth start of the year. Salina and sophomore Noah Czajkowski will start games 2 and 3 on Saturday. Sunday, the southpaw junior Kade Walker will get the nod.
St. Bonaventure’s Paul Vossen has a .290 average, nine doubles and two stolen bases. The redshirt senior outfielder also posts a .421 on-base percentage.
“Defense has been the big plus with [Vossen]. He’s just covered so much ground in centerfield. The offense has been a great surprise,” Rathbun said. “I think anytime you can have somebody hitting in the nine-hole getting on base with his speed, it just puts pressure on the team’s knowing the top of the lineup is coming back around with him on base. He’s done a great job filling that spot and cemented himself there for us right now.”
The first pitch is at noon on Friday. Saturday’s double header will be played at 2 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET. Sunday’s contest begins at 2 p.m. ET. The games can be streamed on ESPN+.
lombarrl23@bonaventure.edu
