With more snow falling across the northeast, Division-1 baseball programs flock south early on in the season. The Niagara Purple Eagles(0-4, 0-0) and Canisius Golden Griffs(2-2, 0-0) will fly down south for a second consecutive weekend as the St. Bonaventure Bonnies(0-0, 0-0) prepare to kick-off their 2022 campaign in Florida.
A New Era for Bonnies Baseball
A new era of baseball will begin for the Bonnies this weekend as they will have a new head coach for the first time in 36 years as B.J. Salerno takes over for the winningest coach in Bonas’ history Larry Sudbrook. Salerno inherits a team that went just 7-24 last season and missed valuable game experience due to COVID-19 scheduling restrictions.
Although the Bonnies’ 2021 record was disappointing, the team returns all but one starter in the field. That cohesion should give fans reason to be excited especially with a guy like senior Matthew Williams returning. The first baseman possesses a career .356 OBP across 86 games and will look to build on his 20 RBI last year.
St. Bonaventure will also be returning their turnstile up the middle with shortstop Branden Myers and Pierce Hendershot playing second. Both guys hit above .270 in 2021 and are very solid defensively with Hendershot offering the versatility to also play third base.
Myers’ progression from 2019 until now is proof that the program can develop. Across 40 games and 36 starts in 2019, Myers hit just .170 with only two extra base hits. In 2021, Myers hit .278 overall and .329 in Atlantic-10 play. At just 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, Myers if nothing else serves as an example to young players to not worry about their size, but to continue to develop their fundamentals.
The team’s outfield should be solid with potential All A-10 player Brendyn Stillman. In the COVID shortened 2020, Stillman was named an All-American and has hit .304 with 10 home runs across two seasons. Then Garrett Boldt, Ben Berger, and Christian Szablewski will all be able to step in on a regular basis to add stable defense and solid bats.
The Bonnies return their Friday starter left-handed Liam Devine. The team returns a few other decent arms, but may have to rely on some freshmen and transfers. Ryan O’Connell transferred in from Central Connecticut while Rushil Bhat joins from Central Michigan.
The Bonnies will get their baseball season underway Friday at 3 P.M. against the Marshall Thundering Herd(1-3, 0-0) before a double-header on Saturday with Merrimack Warriors(0-0, 0-0). Marshall and St. Bonaventure will meet again Sunday afternoon.
Before heading back to Olean, St. Bonaventure will also take on Florida Gulf Coast(3-2, 0-0) for a mid-week contest before finishing their southern trip next weekend at Alabama State(1-4, 0-0).
Canisius Looks to Build Off Opening Weekend
Canisius had a great start to their season with an Opening Day win over the Pitt Panthers(2-2, 0-0) before earning a series split. First baseman Mike Steffan earned MAAC Player of the Week honors after his three homerun and 10 RBI weekend. Right-hander Peyton Consigli was also an award winner as he was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week.
This weekend will be Canisius’ first true road test, however it is against a program they have had some success against. The Golden Griffs will travel into Kentucky to take on Morehead State(1-3, 0-0), a team they have beaten four consecutive times however they have not played since 2011.
The Eagles dropped the first three games of their series at Kennesaw State before winning 17-5 on Sunday. Returning home, the Eagles will look to build of that success however they will face a tough task in Friday night starter Matt Duffy. The sophomore struck out eight Panthers batters and looked great until giving up two runs in his last frame.
First pitch of the series is slated for 3 P.M. this Friday before an afternoon double-header Saturday, then closing the series at 1 P.M. on Sunday. All four games will be available on ESPN+.
Niagara Needs to Prove They Belong
There are not many positives to take away from an 0-4 weekend in which you lost each game by an average of 15 runs. Niagara will need to find some positives as they continue their season this weekend at UNC-Asheville(0-4, 0-0).
Grad student and Lew-Port alum Dawson Bailey was one of few highlights over the weekend. The outfield hit .375 with a triple and two home runs. Junior right-hander Marcus Cashman also put up a valiant effort on the mound as he fanned 10 Catamounts across 5.0 IP in a no-decision.
The Western Carolina Catamounts(4-1, 0-0) look to be a top-tier mid-major team in 2022 as they are currently ranked 44th in Sonny Moore’s rankings(college baseball’s KenPom), but they are not an elite team. The Purple Eagles were thoroughly outmatched by the Catamounts, however this series against the Bulldogs should be a much more even matchup.
Niagara currently finds themselves at 293rd-of-301 schools while Asheville is 274th. Asheville dropped a three-game series to Virginia Tech where they did not come within five runs in any game, then ran into a flamethrower from Tennessee mid-week.
Both school will look to get into the win column during the four-game set. Things will kick off Friday at 3 P.M. on ESPN+. The teams will have an afternoon double-header on Saturday before concluding on Sunday at noon.
Be sure to stay tuned for weekly updates on all our WNY baseball programs throughout the spring and the Road to Omaha! You can follow me over on Twitter at @TyBuffalo and everything Trainwreck at @Trainwrecksprts.