George Washington University Athletics
Friday, March 29
Arlington, VA
3 p.m.
George Washington University
vs
St. Bonaventure
Baseball Opens A-10 Play with St. Bonaventure
3/28/2024 1:41:00 PM | Baseball
WASHINGTON – The George Washington baseball team opens its 2024 Atlantic 10 slate with a three-game series against St. Bonaventure at Tucker Field. The series begins on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and extends into Saturday and Sunday for 1:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. contests respectively. Saturday's game will be carried live on ESPN+, while live stats of all three matchups will be available on GWsports.com.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a furious comeback, GW came up short against Towson on Wednesday night, falling 8-7 to the Tigers at Tucker Field. The Revolutionaries fell behind 8-2 heading into the ninth inning before scoring five runs in the final frame to nearly push the contest to extra innings. With the bases loaded and two outs, first-year Charlie Rogan stepped to the plate in hopes to walk the Tigers off. Rogan, who tallied a solo home run earlier in the day, struck out to end the contest and send Towson home with the win. The loss snapped GW's four-game winning streak and was the team's second loss in nine games. Tyler Blankenship earned the start for GW on the mound and was ultimately charged with the loss, moving him to 1-2 on the year. Ryder Jeske tallied the win for Towson, moving him to 1-1 on the season, while Justin Rebok picked up his third save in 2024.
A-10 LANDSCAPE
Entering the first weekend of conference action, GW ranks fourth in the A-10 with a record of 15-10. Saint Louis boasts the best record in the conference at 16-6 overall, followed closely behind by VCU (16-9) and Dayton (15-10). St. Bonaventure, GW's first A-10 opponent of the season, currently holds a record of 8-12 which ranks eighth out of 12 teams. Each season, every A-10 team will face eight of the 11 other schools from around the conference. This year, GW will miss out on playing Dayton (third in the conference standings), Davidson (sixth) and Fordham (11th). All conference matchups will be played in three-game series, opening on Friday, and concluding on Sunday. A full list of the current A-10 baseball standings can be found here.
SCOUTING THE BONNIES
As mentioned above, St. Bonaventure enters the weekend 8-12 overall after most recently dropping a 7-3 contest to Le Moyne on Tuesday. The matchup against LeMoyne marked the Bonnies' home-opener after playing the first 19 games of the season on the road. During the team's first 19 contests, they picked up notable wins at Penn State and Louisville. The win over the Nittany Lions came on March 19, a mid-week 9-7 victory in University Park. The win over Louisville came on Feb. 23, opening a four-game series against the Cardinals. St. Bonaventure is led by second-year head coach Jason Rathburn, who holds a 16-52 overall mark with the Bonnies after leading the program to an 8-40 season in 2023. The team has shown steady improvement in his second year, equaling the win total from the previous season in just 19 games.
St. Bonaventure's pitching rotation for the weekend will feature Kade Walker making the start in Friday's series-opener. Walker is 1-1 on the season and holds a 5.60 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts and 11 earned runs. On Saturday, St. Bonaventure will turn to Michael Salina on the hill. The George Mason transfer is 2-1 this season and boasts a 3.97 ERA, which is second-best on the team and tops for pitchers who have thrown over 10 innings in 2024. Salina has a team-high 19 strikeouts and has allowed 10 earned runs. He currently holds opposing batters to a .225 average. The Bonnies' Sunday starter has yet to be announced.
At the plate, Adam Rankie leads the Bonnies' offense with a .326 batting average and 29 total hits. He has a team-high tying 17 RBI on the season and has tallied 45 total bases. Rankie has 12 extra-base hits this season including nine doubles, two triples and one home run. His slugging percentage sits at .506 and his on-base percentage is .388. David Marshall Jr. has also enjoyed a solid start to the season with a batting average of .304. Marshall Jr. also has 17 RBI this year and has 24 total hits. Included in those are four doubles, one triple and one home run.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a furious comeback, GW came up short against Towson on Wednesday night, falling 8-7 to the Tigers at Tucker Field. The Revolutionaries fell behind 8-2 heading into the ninth inning before scoring five runs in the final frame to nearly push the contest to extra innings. With the bases loaded and two outs, first-year Charlie Rogan stepped to the plate in hopes to walk the Tigers off. Rogan, who tallied a solo home run earlier in the day, struck out to end the contest and send Towson home with the win. The loss snapped GW's four-game winning streak and was the team's second loss in nine games. Tyler Blankenship earned the start for GW on the mound and was ultimately charged with the loss, moving him to 1-2 on the year. Ryder Jeske tallied the win for Towson, moving him to 1-1 on the season, while Justin Rebok picked up his third save in 2024.
A-10 LANDSCAPE
Entering the first weekend of conference action, GW ranks fourth in the A-10 with a record of 15-10. Saint Louis boasts the best record in the conference at 16-6 overall, followed closely behind by VCU (16-9) and Dayton (15-10). St. Bonaventure, GW's first A-10 opponent of the season, currently holds a record of 8-12 which ranks eighth out of 12 teams. Each season, every A-10 team will face eight of the 11 other schools from around the conference. This year, GW will miss out on playing Dayton (third in the conference standings), Davidson (sixth) and Fordham (11th). All conference matchups will be played in three-game series, opening on Friday, and concluding on Sunday. A full list of the current A-10 baseball standings can be found here.
SCOUTING THE BONNIES
As mentioned above, St. Bonaventure enters the weekend 8-12 overall after most recently dropping a 7-3 contest to Le Moyne on Tuesday. The matchup against LeMoyne marked the Bonnies' home-opener after playing the first 19 games of the season on the road. During the team's first 19 contests, they picked up notable wins at Penn State and Louisville. The win over the Nittany Lions came on March 19, a mid-week 9-7 victory in University Park. The win over Louisville came on Feb. 23, opening a four-game series against the Cardinals. St. Bonaventure is led by second-year head coach Jason Rathburn, who holds a 16-52 overall mark with the Bonnies after leading the program to an 8-40 season in 2023. The team has shown steady improvement in his second year, equaling the win total from the previous season in just 19 games.
St. Bonaventure's pitching rotation for the weekend will feature Kade Walker making the start in Friday's series-opener. Walker is 1-1 on the season and holds a 5.60 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts and 11 earned runs. On Saturday, St. Bonaventure will turn to Michael Salina on the hill. The George Mason transfer is 2-1 this season and boasts a 3.97 ERA, which is second-best on the team and tops for pitchers who have thrown over 10 innings in 2024. Salina has a team-high 19 strikeouts and has allowed 10 earned runs. He currently holds opposing batters to a .225 average. The Bonnies' Sunday starter has yet to be announced.
At the plate, Adam Rankie leads the Bonnies' offense with a .326 batting average and 29 total hits. He has a team-high tying 17 RBI on the season and has tallied 45 total bases. Rankie has 12 extra-base hits this season including nine doubles, two triples and one home run. His slugging percentage sits at .506 and his on-base percentage is .388. David Marshall Jr. has also enjoyed a solid start to the season with a batting average of .304. Marshall Jr. also has 17 RBI this year and has 24 total hits. Included in those are four doubles, one triple and one home run.
Players Mentioned
RHP
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