By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — In its mid-week affair against a Binghamton side that, historically, has been a difficult one to overcome, the St. Bonaventure baseball team was able to hang on for a win.
Fending off a late rally from the Bearcats, the Bonnies’ 8-7 victory was their second at home on the season, and third in their last five games as they look to turn around their fortunes after a recent extended run of losses.
Offensively, Bona got off to a hot start on the day, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first two innings, and managed to keep Binghamton at bay throughout the contest, not once giving up the lead.
But there were some moments when its control of the game was put into question behind some up-and-down performances on the mound.
Freshman Jaxson Ross, a local product out of Salamanca, started the game on the bump and managed to pick up his first-ever collegiate win, but struggled finding the zone at times. Ross walked five of the 19 batters he faced through 4.0 innings of work. But the problem was not his alone. Altogether, the Bonnies’ pitchers walked 12 batters on the day.
However, coach Jason Rathbun was unshaken by some of the struggles his pitchers had on the mound. And, according to him, he doesn’t believe his pitchers were all that worried either.
After 26 games, the Bonnies know what they have in their pitching rotation this season and while, of course he would like to see his pitchers find the strike zone with more consistency, he has faith that they now have a better level of understanding of what it takes to reign themselves in once they see a few too many pitches get away from them.
A level of faith that was ultimately rewarded with a win.
“We’ve struggled with command pretty much all year, so I think we’re getting used to it,” Rathbun said. “But, obviously, we’d love to pound the strike zone more. We’re making a note of it, and we keep emphasizing the fact that we want to pound the strike zone more. We just got to grow, we got to keep growing. But, yeah, I don’t think they get really rattled when they’re in that situation, because they’ve been in it a lot this year.”
St. Bonaventure’s Jaxson Ross (10) delivers a pitch to a Binghamton batter. Ross gave up three hits, five walks and two runs through 4.0 innings of work and collected his first-ever collegiate win against the Bearcats. (Spencer Bates)
Errors have been another area in which Rathbun has had to hold onto the trust he has in his players. The Bonnies recorded four errors on the day — two of which occurred on the same play, resulting in a run for the visitors — to Binghamton’s two. But ultimately, that is just a mental area his players will have to correct themselves. And with how well they have been producing at the plate, he noted there is really no way he can turn his back on some players that may concede the occasional error.
“It’s baseball, you’re going to have some bad spins and some bad contact that creates odd spin on the ball,” Rathbun said. “We just got to keep running out the guys that we have faith in and that are getting the job done on the offensive end. Sometimes you got to live and die with the errors if those guys are producing in the lineup. We’ve played games where we’ve played great defense. It’s just sometimes we tend to make a few mistakes out there.”
And the production Bona managed to get at the plate — all of which was highlighted by a two-run homer from Alex Hebenstreit— against the Bearcats proved his point, combining for 11 hits on six different Binghamton pitchers.
“Our offense has been great all year, it really has,” Rathbun said. “I can only think back to one game where we didn’t score a pretty good amount of runs. So, credit to our offense. I think we can swing it with anybody. We just got to get more consistent pitching to get some more in the win column. We’re very, very confident in our offense.”
And carrying the torch for Bona on the afternoon was Jayce Tharnish (4 hits, run, RBI), who recorded multiple hits for a fourth consecutive game, which earned him a healthy amount of praise from Rathbun.
“Jayce, since he got here, he’s our best professional prospect,” Rathbun said. “He’s a special, special talent and we need him. When he’s in the lineup, it’s a difference maker. He had a little bit of a wrist injury for a couple weeks, and you can just tell it’s a different lineup without him. He’s a special kid.”
St. Bonaventure’s Robert Mannino (14) connects on a pitch. Mannino went 2-for-4 at the plate against Binghamton, tacking on a run in the 8-7 win. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
The win snapped Binghamton’s three-game win streak over Bona and signified a home-and-away series split on the season. But the result holds even more weight as Rathbun and the Bonnies jump right back into A10 play with a three-game home series against Saint Joseph’s beginning on Friday April 3 at 3 p.m.
With Bona only holding a 2-7 in-conference record at the moment, Rathbun with hope his side can use this resilient, midweek result over a strong team to catapult them into a run of good form against league opponents.
“It’s great to play close games, it puts guys in pressure situations,” Rathbun said of the importance of playing a team like Binghamton. “Every game we’ve played with Binghamton since I’ve been here has been very close. It’s really come down to the ninth inning in pretty much every game. So we knew we were going to be in a close ball game with them. They’re a great program, they are a first-class coaching staff, they’re dear friends of mine, and that’s why I enjoy playing those guys. It’s great to share the field with them.”
