Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
By Nathan Donnelly, Contributing Writer
The St. Bonaventure University’s softball team surrendered three losses to Saint Louis University this past weekend, losing the games by a combined margin of 17 runs.
The Bonnies (2-23, 1-11 A-10) fell 2-1 in the first game of their three-game series with the Billikens (21-13, 9-3 A-10).
Senior second baseman Kennedy Haberl got the Bonnies on the board and tied the game at one after an early Billiken run when right fielder Abby Mallo crossed the plate.
The game remained 1-1 until extra innings.
Freshman Kendall Stull drew the start for Bonaventure at the mound, throwing 157 pitches over 8 ⅔ innings. She held the Saint Louis offense to two runs on six hits, with six strikeouts, before the Bonnies brought in freshman pitcher Kylie Bickert to get the last out.
Assistant coach Diana Phalon-Mole spoke on Stull’s composure against an SLU team that leads the conference in average and OPS.
“Kendall did a great job making hitters uncomfortable and keeping them off-balanced,” said Phalon-Mole. “She was able to get inside on their lefties and jam them pretty well while using her changeup effectively.”
Senior outfielder Olivia Whitecar reached base in the bottom of the ninth, but the Bonnies couldn’t tie the game in extras.
Bonaventure dropped each game of Sunday’s doubleheader by eight runs, 10-2 in the first and 12-4 in the second.
In Game 1 one, Bonaventure took an early 2-1 lead in the first inning, but Saint Louis piled on runs, including two in the fifth and final inning.
The Bonnies would give up six consecutive runs to start the second game but showed fight in the bottom of the third.
Two Bonaventure runs, courtesy of graduate student designated player Olivia Moon and senior third baseman Grace Walker, closed the gap heading into the fourth.
But a six-run fifth inning by the Billikens proved too much for the Bonnies to come back from, as the Brown and White dropped the second game of the doubleheader 12-4.
The Bonaventure softball team had a midweek matchup with the Binghamton Bearcats on Tuesday.
Despite losing the doubleheader, Phalon-Mole sees positives in the pitching staff.
“As a staff, we just want to keep working to get better,” said Phalon-Mole. “Limiting walks and hitting batters is always important, but pitchers are successful when they work ahead in the counts and can then use their strengths to be more successful. They are working hard to keep making these adjustments and keep improving.”
Senior pitchers Emily Phelan and Tori McGraw saw starts Tuesday.
Phelan pitched in the first game, while McGraw pitched in the back end of the seven-inning doubleheader.
Both pitchers gave the team length, with Phelan throwing five innings on six runs and nine hits.
McGraw got through 5 ⅓ innings, allowing eight runs on six hits and three strikeouts.
Phalon-Mole saw the positives in Tuesday’s games.
“The two seniors (Emily Phelan and Tori McGraw) are not slowing down even though they are seniors,” said Phalon-Mole. “They are still working to get better and especially this week they have made great strides.”
The Bonaventure softball team is back in action this weekend, when they travel to the Windy City to take on Loyola Chicago in a three-game set April 13 at 1 p.m. The games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Bonnies’ next home matchup will be against Fordham on April 20.
donnelnp23@bonaventure.edu
