By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — Playing under the umbrella of a large deficit affects a team.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what the St. Bonaventure baseball team was forced to do after seeing the score run away early in its 15-8 series finale loss to Davidson.
The Bonnies and Wildcats had split the first two games of the three-game Atlantic 10 series, with the latter taking an 11-4 win in the series opener and the former taking a 6-2 win in game two. And something that was common between the two games was that whichever team got off to the better start on offense, took the game. That trend continued in the finale, where the visitors, after Bona had matched the lone run they put up in the first frame, brought nine across the plate in the top of the second.
A devastating blow that put the Bonnies in a difficult position incredibly early in the affair. Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ confidence, especially on the mound, only grew.
Cooper Cavanaugh got the start on the mound for Davidson, throwing just two innings in which he recorded three strikeouts and gave up two runs on three hits. Replacing him was Ed Hall, who ate up the majority of work on the mound — and recorded the win on the day — throwing 4.0 innings in which he conceded just one run on two hits, struck out six batters and walked two.
“I think any time a pitcher gets a 10-run lead, it allows him to kind of attack the zone more and pitch with a little bit of confidence because he’s got a big lead,” St. Bonaventure coach Jason Rathbun said. “So I think (Davidson’s pitchers) just did a good job of pounding the zone and getting ahead of batters and collecting outs.”
St. Bonaventure’s Gavin Constantine (6) connects on a pitch against Davidson. (Spencer Bates)
Meanwhile Bona, due to some injuries and high usage in recent games, went with Ethan Catney-Forbes — who has made just eight appearances this season — to start the game. He lasted just 1.2 innings after conceding five runs on three hits. However, it was in his replacement’s time on the mound in which the Wildcats did the most damage.
In Kade Walker’s 3.1 innings, he struck out just two as Davidson scored seven runs on nine hits. However, Catney-Forbes and Walker were just two of seven pitchers the hosts used on the day, two of which were outfield players used in the final inning as Bona tried to rally.
“It wasn’t real sharp,” Rathbun said of his team’s pitching. “(We had) guys kind of pitching out of their roles today. We kind of burned our bullets yesterday to grab that win.”
And as the unfortunate situation on the mound continued to unfold for the Bonnies, their offense found itself struggling to generate much of anything either, recording just four hits between the second and seventh innings.
“It’s tough to come back from 10 runs, so obviously it’s a difficult situation to kind of battle back from,” Rathbun said. “We’re just beat up so we’re just trying to extend some guys on the mound and try to make a miracle happen and it just didn’t work out today.”
Davidson added three more runs in the sixth inning and put Bona on the brink of being run-ruled out of the game. But in the face of such a prospect, the hosts found they had some more left in the tank, scoring one in the bottom of the seventh to stave off the run rule, and four in the bottom of the eighth which brought the game within five runs.
“I love this group of guys, they don’t ever quit,” Rathbun said of his team’s effort. “Doesn’t matter what the score is, they keep battling. So, I’m super proud of their continuous fight in a very difficult season, considering all the injuries we have had to battle through.”
Unfortunately, Davidson managed to restore two of those runs in the top of the ninth inning and, in doing so, drained the momentum from the Bona bats as they went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth.
The loss left the Bonnies still in search of their first A10 series win on the season, but still, with the home stretch of the campaign fast-approaching, Rathbun will be looking for his players to fight until the end.
“We just want to keep playing game-by-game and try to collect wins and see how we finish out,” Rathbun said. “But we’re going to battle every weekend. It doesn’t matter where we are in the standings. Right now, we’re going to keep going and keep giving ourselves opportunities.”
St. Bonaventure will look to right the ship in a midweek fixture at home against Niagara on April 29 at 3 p.m.
