Tyler Kelder homered and drove in three runs to power the Bonnies offensive attack in an 11-5 victory over Bucknell Tuesday afternoon in St. Bonaventure’s home opener at Fred Handler Park.
The Bonnies smacked 13 hits on the day – two each from Kelder, Sam Fuller, Alex Schutz, Brandon Henshaw and Kevin Higgins.
Bucknell (4-15) led in the early going after two runs in the first and another in the second for a 3-0 advantage.
Bona got two runs back in the home half of the second when Ben MacDonald sent a double to the gap in right center to score Kevin Higgins. MacDonald then came home when Fuller roped a double to left to pull within a run.
The lead went to the Bonnies after three runs in the fourth.
Bucknell pitching walked the bases loaded, allowing Schutz to single through the right side and tie the game. Kelder gave the Bonnies the lead with a run-scoring ground out and another run came across on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jeff Palczewski.
In the fifth, the Bonnies took control.
After Higgins and Branden Myers walked, Fuller delivered again with a drive to the right center gap. The senior ended up at third with a triple after both runners scored in front of him and Fuller would be able to trot home on a no-doubt bomb from Kelder to left for the exclamation point on the inning.
Bucknell closed within four, 9-5, following two runs in the eighth, but Bona got both tallies back after loading the baes with no outs, scoring on groundouts from MacDonald and Myers.
Donovan Moffat (1-1) threw four scoreless innings of relief to get the win, allowing just two runs while walking none and striking out five.
The Bonnies are back in action this weekend as they start Atlantic 10 play with a three-game series at Fordham beginning Friday.