Softball: McDonough sets Bonnies’ career hits record

(Photo Credit: GoBonnies.com)

When St. Bonaventure shortstop Emily McDonough recorded a .330 batting average her freshman year, it didn’t take a sabermetrics wiz like Bill James to predict her future success.

On Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, the Marlboro, N.Y. native cemented her place in school history. With two hits in the second half of a doubleheader at La Salle, she became Bona’s all-time hits leader with 180, passing 1999 graduate Jen Bovee’s mark of 178.

“It is an honor and very humbling to be placed amongst some amazing softball players who have played before me here,” McDonough said.

An all-time record requires consistency, and the senior has been a constant in the Bona lineup since she got to campus.

McDonough’s career batting average currently stands at .374, and she has recorded at least 30 hits each season. Her 24 multi-hit games the past two seasons trail only Kelli Rohan’s 26. Her 490 at bats are seven shy of 2003 graduate Tricia Hildebrand’s career at bats record.

“Consistency is a major reason why this record was reachable for me,” McDonough said. “It’s difficult to remain consistent in softball, especially over a four-year span. My competitive edge, metal toughness and hard work have helped me along the way.

“However, I couldn’t have done it without all of my teammates over the past (four) years who have pushed me to be the best I can be.”

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Bonnies softball preview

[Photo courtesy of Tony Lee ]

By Rebecca Gunning, Staff Writer, @beck2042

The St. Bonaventure softball team began their season this weekend in South Carolina with four games, going 1-3.

The lone win came in a 6-3 victory over Detroit.

Before opening their season, the Bonnies were pegged in 9th in the Atlantic 10 Conference’s coaches poll.

The team does not let preseason poll position bother them.

“We use it as motivation, always picked as an underdog,” said senior catcher Brooke Frey.

Head coach Mike Threehouse felt his team should have been placed higher.

“We’ve never finished lower than 8th, so that’s an interesting pick,” said Threehouse.

Last season, the team won just 13 of their 33 games, including an 8-12 record in conference play. While they performed well offensively, ranking in the middle of the pack, their defense was less then stellar.

The Bonnies had the worst fielding percentage in the conference at .938, but are working to ensure that’s not the case this season.

The players dedicated much of their practice time to fielding and Threehouse believes it will no longer be a downfall of the team.

“We’re not gonna finish last in fielding this year, I promise,” Threehouse said.

The Bonnies will travel plenty this season, having only 12 scheduled home games.

Inclement weather last season forced the Bonnies to adopt a “Road Warrior” mentality.

“I think last year really will help us out because we were on the road literally every weekend. We had no time off and over 10 hour drives everywhere,” said sophomore pitcher Jennifer Sansano.

Sansano played a big role on the team last season. She led the team in innings pitched and beat four out of the six teams that made it to the A-10 Championships.

Sophomore shortstop Ashley Snider led all rookies in the A-10 in home runs and was selected to the A-10 Rookie Team.

Junior Jessenia Andujar also supplied some pop, hitting four home runs to go along with 20 RBI’s.

The team expects nothing less from this years freshmen.

“They’ve been impressive and add a really great dimension to the team so we’re excited to see them play in games,” Frey remarked.

But more impressive was Frey’s play last season.

She ranked 8th in the conference in batting average and in the top five of virtually every offensive category on the team.

Not only are her power numbers impressive, blasting five home runs last season, but she has great plate discipline as well, sitting near the top of the conference in walks despite playing less games.

Because of those stellar numbers, Frey was voted to the A-10 Preseason All-Conference team. If last season is any indication, she will only get better this season.

But she is not getting ahead of herself.

“Even though it’s a good name and a good title to have, it still doesn’t really predict anything this season so I still gotta go out there with a clean slate like nothing ever happened,” Frey explained.

Threehouse knows that she is one key to the team’s success.

“If she even has close to the year she had last year, she’s going to carry us a long way,” Threehouse said of Frey.

The other key to success is pitching.

And for the Bonnies that means discussing Sansano.

After a tremendous freshman campaign, Threehouse has his expectations set high.

“She’s a year older, a year smarter, a year more experienced,” he said. “She’s going to throw a lot more innings than she did last year so she’ll be our go to girl all year long.

The A-10 will once again be tough, but the Bonnies have a lot to be optimistic about.

If their defense and pitching improve, as they should, and the offense picks up where it left off last season, St. Bonaventure can surprise and finish ahead of their predicted finish.

gunninre10@bonaventure.edu

Bonnies show academic leadership

Student athletes’ GPA averages for spring 2011 semester is higher than the university student body’s

By Tony Lee, editor in chief, @sHecKii

ST. BONAVENTURE (Aug. 23) — St. Bonaventure University student athletes had a higher average semester GPA for the spring 2011 semester than the university’s entire student body, according to data supplied by the athletics department

The data showed students who compete in Division I athletics earned a 3.114 average GPA, compared to 3.035 of the student body this spring. Eleven of the university’s 14 intercollegiate teams had higher than a 3.00 average semester GPA, too.

Women’s soccer, coached by Manoj Khettry, had the highest semester team GPA at 3.476. Softball, coached by Mike Threehouse, had 3.395; women’s cross-country, coached by Bob Macfarlane, had 3.329; and women’s tennis, coached by Mike Bates, had 3.305.

“They take great pride in their achievements in the classroom, and our coaches make sure they understand the importance of academic success,” said Steve Watson, director of athletics.

Out of 240 Division I student athletes, senior cross-country runner Elizabeth Moran was one of nine who achieved a perfect 4.0 in the spring.

She said time management skills helped her handle the delicate balance between athletics and academia.

“It’s being able to decide what’s the most important thing to do and (do it) at a certain time,” said Moran, an elementary and special education major. “I don’t sit around and watch a bunch of TV. Basically, I go to class, go to practice, and go do my work.”

The average semester GPA for women was 3.241; the average semester GPA for men was 2.991.

“I am very proud of the student athletes for achieving such great success in their academics,” said Michelle Kent, assistant athletic director for academic support and student services. “They have a lot of things they have to balance and they do a great job of managing their time to be successful.”

Women’s basketball (2.830), baseball (2.760) and men’s basketball (2.607) fell below 3.0.

Cross-country had the highest semester average amongst men at 3.204.

tony.lee@theintrepid.org