Baseball Walks Off With Doubleheader Sweep on Senior Day

Saturday, May 11

Arlington, Va.

10 a.m.

George Washington University

29-22, 0

St. Bonaventure

13-28, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
St. Bonaventure	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	6	1
George Washington	0	2	0	2	1	2	3	0	X	10	13	1

5/11/2019 6:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Colonials come from behind to earn first A-10 sweep of the year

ARLINGTON, Va. - The final home date of the 2019 season was certainly a memorable one for GW baseball as the Colonials won both ends of a doubleheader over St. Bonaventure to sweep the series and reach the 30-win plateau.

GW has now won 30 or more games in three straight seasons and four times overall in seven seasons under head coach Gregg Ritchie.

The Colonials rolled to a 10-3 win in the opener before coming from behind in dramatic fashion to pull off a 6-5 walk-off triumph in 10 innings in the nightcap. Between the action on the field, GW honored its six seniors - Dom D'Alessandro, Kevin Hodgson, Pat Knight, Alex O'Rourke, Brady Renner and Nate Woods - as part of senior day.

GW 10, St. Bonaventure 3 - The Buff & Blue's offense was alive for the early start, jumping out to an early lead and cruising to the seven-run victory.

Leading 2-1 in the fourth thanks to two runs scoring on an error, D'Alessandro crushed a solo dinger to expand the lead to 3-1. Later in the frame, first-year Anthony Frechette doubled home classmate Noah Levin with two gone to give GW a 4-1 edge.

Frechette had three hits in the game, one of five Colonials with multi-hit performances in the opener.

The teams traded runs in the fifth inning with GW scoring on an RBI fielder's choice from sophomore Tyler Hix. In the sixth, junior Steve Barmakian singled home a run and scored on an RBI double from junior Nate Fassnacht, who tied the single-season program record with his 23rd two-bagger of the year.

The Colonials left no doubt with three more tallies in the seventh, one on a double steal and two via a two-out single from Barmakian, who finished the game with three RBI.

On the mound, first-year Rich Pfluger retired the first nine batters he faced and pitched 4.2 innings in total, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts. Knight came on to earn the win with 3.1 solid frames, ceding only a run on three hits with five strikeouts for his sixth victory of the year.

GW 6, St. Bonaventure 5 (10): The Colonials saved the dramatics for the nightcap with three seniors providing the keys to victory.

The Bonnies jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning against junior Jaret Edwards, who was relieved after recording one out for senior Kevin Hodgson. The southpaw got two big outs in the first to stem the tide and rolled through the next three innings.

GW chipped away during that time, scoring its first run on back-to-back two-out doubles from sophomore Colin Brophy and first-year Cade Fergus in the third inning. A two-out error in the fourth sliced the deficit to one.

Hodgson ran into some trouble in the fifth, allowing two runs before giving way to senior Nate Woods, who stranded a runner at third with a flyout.

Woods took the ball and ran with it, regaining his typical form with precision and power on the hill. The Texas native authored 5.1 scoreless innings of relief, limiting the Bonnies to just four baserunners in the stretch and striking out five.

That set the stage for GW's power to take over as Fassnacht chiseled the deficit to 5-3 with a solo homer to straightaway center in the last of the sixth. He singled to lead off the eighth and was followed by D'Alessandro, who launched a majestic two-run homer to left to knot the game up at five.

After a scoreless ninth, GW loaded the bases with nobody out in the 10th via singles from Barmakian and Fassnacht and an intentional walk to D'Alessandro. Levin promptly delivered his second walk-off of the year with a long fly to left that landed for the game-winning single.

D'Alessandro's final swing as a Colonial at Tucker Field gave him the team lead with 12 long balls on the year after Fassnacht had tied him with his 11th earlier in the game. The slugger finished the day 4-for-7 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI.

Fassnacht had four hits combined as well with a double, homer, three runs scored and two RBI. He was honored between the games as the team's MVP for the 2019 season.

The Colonials still have an outside chance at making the A-10 tournament, but will finish the regular season with a non-conference series, traveling to No. 20 West Virginia next Thursday through Saturday for a three-game set.