Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY RYAN LOMBARDI, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
St. Bonaventure baseball wins third in a row after win at Penn State.
Entering Tuesday, the St. Bonaventure University’s baseball team looked to continue its recent success against Penn State University, a Power Five school.
The Panthers (11-7) overcame a five-run deficit in the seventh, but a late offensive surge in the eighth made the difference for the Bonnies (8-11).
Junior Gabe Watts made his third start of the season for SBU. Watts pitched three innings allowing only one earned run, while striking out five. His day ended in the fourth, as the Brown and White relied on five different pitchers to get them through the game.
Bonaventure’s offense got going early in the second inning when redshirt junior Paul Vossen singled, driving in two runs. The center fielder has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games.
Graduate student Jackson DeJohn, the designated hitter, drove another with an RBI single in the third to go up 3-0.
Bona’s extended its lead with a three-run fourth inning.
Redshirt senior fight fielder Adam Rankie, the team’s leader in hits, drove in an RBI double. Later in the inning, junior shortstop David Marshall Jr. and redshirt junior third baseman Harrison Kaufman hit a pair of RBI singles to put the Bonnies up 6-1.
Penn State rallied back in the later innings, with sac flies from senior center fielder Tayven Kelley and sophomore left fielder Bobby Marsh. In the seventh, PSU tied the game at six with an RBI double off the bat of junior catcher Matt Maloney.
Bonaventure loaded the bases in the eighth before a pitch-hitting junior left fielder Robert Mannino gave SBU a one-run advantage. Two pitches later, redshirt senior second baseman Kyle Caccamise roped a single into right field to drive in two runs.
The Bonnies led by two into the bottom half of the ninth. Looking for a comeback, the Panthers scored, with the tying run to the plate.
Sophomore reliever Noah Czajkowski quickly shut the door, striking out freshman pinch hitter Michael DiMartini, to give Bonaventure its third consecutive win. Czajkowski threw two and a third while striking out three.
With the 9-7 victory, SBU improves to 8-11 on the season, already matching last year’s win total. Rankie also picked up his tenth multi-hit game of the year.
Bonaventure looks to continue its success at Rhode Island this weekend in a three-game series. Game 1 on Saturday starts at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched on ESPN+
lombarrl23@bonaventure.edu
