MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team wrapped up its regular season on Saturday afternoon, falling to St. Bonaventure in both ends of a doubleheader at Smithson Field.
In the opener, SBU's Connor Grey struck out 15 over seven and a third innings as the Bonnies came away with a 2-0 victory.
St. Bonaventure (26-22-1 overall, 11-13 Atlantic 10) took the lead in the second as Aaron Phillips led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a single by Ted Dilts.
After singles by Deon Stafford, Jr., in the first and third innings, Grey did not allow a hit until Marc Giacalone singled with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Grey did issue consecutive two-out walks to Taylor Boyd and Giacalone in the fifth, but he escaped the inning after inducing a groundout from Stafford.
Tim Brennan had a strong day on the mound for the Hawks as well, retiring 18 of 21 hitters he faced after the second before running into trouble in the eighth. With two outs, David Vaccaro singled and stole second to bring up Taishi Terashima, whose single up the middle added an insurance run for SBU. Brennan then allowed a single to Cole Peterson and a walk to Tyler Walter before being replaced by Jack Stover, who retired Thad Johnson to prevent further damage.
Johnson, who replaced Grey on the mound in the eighth, then threw a perfect ninth for his sixth save of the season. Grey improved to 3-6 on the season, while Brennan fell to 7-2 after allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out six in seven and two-thirds innings.
The nightcap was a different affair, as SBU put things on ice with a three-run ninth en route to a 7-2 win.
The Bonnies went ahead in the second, using two hits, a hit batsman, and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead.
Saint Joseph's (29-21 overall, 15-9 Atlantic 10) equalized in the fourth. Stafford led off the inning with a single before Charlie Coghlin was hit by a pitch two batters later. Matt Maul then drew a walk to load the bases for Cal Jadacki, whose first-pitch single to left center scored Stafford and Coghlin to tie the game.
St. Bonaventure nosed ahead in the top of the fifth on three consecutive two-out singles, two of them of the infield variety, brought home Peterson with the go-ahead run.
The Bonnies tacked on a run in the seventh on a pair of singles and a wild pitch. They nearly had two, but Peterson was called out on appeal for leaving third base early on a fly ball by Walter to end the inning.
In the ninth, a one-out double by Terashima scored Vaccaro, who had led off the frame and was hit by a pitch. Peterson singled home Terashima before stealing second and coming in on a single by Walter to close out the scoring.
Reid Van Woert tossed three and a third innings of two-hit relief to earn the win, improving to 5-2 on the year. Pat Vanderslice took the loss for SJU, falling to 6-3 after allowing two runs, one earned, in four innings of relief. Nate Grant earned his first save of the year after allowing two hits in an inning and two-thirds.
Between games on Saturday, the Hawks honored their departing seniors with the annual Senior Day ceremony. Coghlin, Stover, John Brue, Joey Gorman, Matt Haskins, Jason Holcomb, Joe Manion, Tim McCarthy, Ryan Otero, and Nate Shank were joined by their parents for the presentation.
The Hawks now await their Atlantic 10 Championship seeding and opponent. Play begins on Wednesday, May 25, at Fordham's Houlihan Park.
