Saint Joseph's University

MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team clinched a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday, sealing its 20th conference win of the season with an 11-10 victory over St. Bonaventure at Smithson Field.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Hawks took the lead in the bottom of the second after Jason Janesko beat out an infield single and stole second before a Tim Dickinson walk.  During the next at bat, Janesko broke for third and the throw from pitcher David James sailed past third base, allowing Janesko to score.
 
• St. Bonaventure (12-29-1 overall, 6-16 Atlantic 10) equalized in the third after a pair of errors and an RBI single by Christian LaMothe, but the Hawks answered in the bottom of the frame.  Alex Kelsey hit a two-out single to bring up Blake Primrose, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's National Hitter of the Month for April; he got May off to a good start by taking the first pitch deep to left center to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.
 
• Saint Joseph's (30-15 overall, 20-2 Atlantic 10) extended the lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Carson Applegate.  It was déjà vu all over again in the fifth as Kelsey singled and Primrose followed with a first-pitch moonshot, this time to left, to make it a 6-1 game.
 
• Applegate was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning before Joey Gale walked and Primrose was walked intentionally to load the bases.  Richard Beggy then laced a single to right that was mishandled by the Bonnies' outfielder; all three runners scored and Beggy made it to third to extend the lead to 9-1.  Janesko then ripped a double off the third base bag to push the lead to 10-1.
 
• The Bonnies manufactured a run in the top of the seventh via a walk, a passed ball, a fly ball, and a groundout, but the Hawks got it back in the bottom of the frame via an Alex Venezia walk, singles by Applegate and Kelsey, and a sacrifice fly by Primrose.
 
• The visitors would not go down quietly, taking advantage of four hits, three walks, two wild pitches, and a hit batsman to plate eight runs and cut the margin to 11-10.  Andrew Gaines put out the fire in the ninth inning, sending the Bonnies down in order to end the game.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Gaines recorded his ninth save of the season to preserve the win for Duke McCarron, who handed in his second consecutive strong outing.  McCarron went six innings and allowed just one unearned run on four hits and one walk while striking out five.  James took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits and three walks in four innings.
 
• Primrose finished the day with five runs batted in to go with two hits and three runs scored.  Kelsey was 3-for-5 with three runs scored as well, while Beggy tacked on a pair of RBI.
 
• Every Hawk in the starting lineup reached base safely in the game.
 
• Primrose's two home runs give him 19 on the season, tying the program's single-season mark set by Andrew Cossetti in 2022.
 
• The Hawks punched their ticket to the postseason for the sixth consecutive season, the longest active streak in the Atlantic 10.
 
UP NEXT
The series continues on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.