BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb (0-2) baseball team opened the 2025 season with a pair of losses to visiting St. Bonaventure on Friday, February 14. The Bonnies took game one 10-3 before collecting a hard-fought 9-8 win in the nightcap.
GAME ONE: ST. BONAVENTURE 10, GARDNER-WEBB 3
The Bonnies jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first following a Chris Hoalcraft double to left that plated Jayce Tharnish.
However, Gardner-Webb came back with a single run of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Lawson Knight drew a walk to begin the at-bat before putting himself in scoring position with a stolen base. Ryab Kennell knotted the score with a RBI single to right field.
St. Bonaventure opened the game up in the visitor's half of the fourth with three runs on three hits, including RBI singles by Harrison Kaufman and Paul Vossen. That advantage ballooned to 10-1 after six innings as the Bonnies scored six times over the next two plate appearances.
The Runnin' Bulldogs had their best offensive inning in the bottom of the seventh as Kennell and
Aaron Morgan went back-to-back with solo shots, trimming the deficit to 10-3, but it proved to not be enough as GWU dropped game one of the twin-billing.
GAME TWO: ST. BONAVENTURE 9, GARDNER-WEBB 8
St. Bonaventure jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after an inning and a half before
Matt Ilgenfritz put the home team on the board with a double to right center that scored
Tanner Thomas.
After the Bonnies added a run to their lead in the third, Gardner-Webb came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame as Morgan connected on his second homerun of the day, a two-run blast to left center, narrowing the gap to 4-3.
However, SBU came back with a three-spot in the top of the fourth following RBI hits by Hoalcraft and Kaufman. The offensive explosion continued in the home half of the fourth as Ilgenfritz led things off with a mammoth solo shot to center. Kennell added a sacrifice fly that scored Dale Francis Jr., pulling the 'Dawgs to within 7-5.
St. Bonaventure was retired in order in the fifth, leading to a two-run frame for the Runnin' Bulldogs that deadlocked the contest at 7-7.
Nick Capozzi singled up the middle before coming around to score on a triple off the bat of Thomas. Francis added a sacrifice fly for the Black and Red.
The tie did not last long as SBU came back with a pair in the top of the sixth, running back to a 9-7 lead heading into the latter third of game two. Knight brought Gardner-Webb back to within a single run following a triple to right center that allowed
Ethan Rossow to cross the dish.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the game went scoreless as St. Bonaventure held on for the one-run win in game two. The two teams will be back in action tomorrow afternoon with a first pitch of 3 p.m.
