Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
BRONX, N.Y. – Bonnies pitchers Donovan Moffat (McQuaid Jesuit) and Ben Contento combined for a two-hit shutout, making an early lead stick for a 1-0 win as the St. Bonaventure baseball team defeated Fordham Sunday afternoon.
St. Bonaventure improves to 1-2 in Atlantic 10 play while Fordham is now 2-1.
Sam Fuller led off the game with a triple and the Bonnies had a 1-0 lead two batters in when a sac fly from Ryan O’Connor (Brighton) brought Fuller home.
In the fifth, the Bonnies had a great chance to extend their lead.
Branden Myers walked with two out and Fuller was hit by a pitch. O’Connor beat out an infield single, setting the stage for Tyler Kelder. Kelder drove a ball deep to left, but the Fordham left fielder tracked it down just in front of the fence to end the threat.
Fordham looked to tie the game in the seventh.
After three straight walks loaded the bases with one out, Contento picked up a strikeout and with the runner coming home from third, the ball popped out of catcher Kevin Koziol‘s glove and toward the mound. Contento charged, scooped up the loose ball and underhanded quickly to Koziol who covered the plate and applied the tag on the runner to end the inning in dramatic fashion.
The Rams again threatened in the ninth, putting the tying run 90 feet away.
With one away, Jake Mackenzie laced a double in the left center gap. He moved to third on a ground out, but Contento coaxed a pop up behind first and Brandon Henshaw (Brockport) hauled it in for the final out.
Moffat (2-1) got his first start of the year and worked his career-long outing, also striking out a career-high five in five scoreless innings. He surrendered just one hit and walked two to earn the win.
Contento picked up the save after tossing the final four innings, striking out four.
The Bonnies are now off until Friday when they welcome La Salle for the first of three in the opening A-10 home series of the season.
GAME NOTES:
- Moffat’s previous career high in innings (4.0) came in a win over Bucknell Tuesday and Sunday he matched the five strikeouts he had vs. the Bison to equal another career best. He lowered his season ERA to 0.87 with Sunday’s work.
- Contento earned his first career save in 39 appearances.
- O’Connor and Jeff Palczewski each had two hits and the Bonnies finished with seven on the day.
- Koziol got his first start as a Bonnie and made an impact by throwing out two would-be base stealers with solid work behind the plate.
- Bonnies pitchers threw their first shutout since a 2-0 win at Dayton April 22, 2018 and SBU got its first 1-0 win since March 11, 2018 at James Madison – a game that Contento started and got the win while Moffat earned the save on that day.
Leave a Reply