Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Miami (Ohio)
Bison Baseball Team Falls to Miami (Ohio) in Fresno, 14-2
3/17/2001 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 17, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. - Miami University (Ohio) got five shutout innings from starter Mark Floersch and an offensive explosion from the Knoedler twins to defeat Bucknell 14-2 in the fifth-place game at the Pepsi-Johnny Quik Classic at Fresno University.
Bucknell finished the tournament with a 2-4 record and in sixth-place.
The RedHawks (7-8) struck first with three runs in the top of the second. Cleanup hitter Jeremy Ison opened the frame with a base hit to right and moved to second when Bison starter Ross Aron (Westport, Conn./Kent School) walked third baseman Andi Scheidt. After a foul out, left fielder Tom Yost singled to right to load the bases. Catcher Justin Knoedler stepped to the box and promptly singled up the middle to score Ison and Scheidt for a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, his twin brother, Jason Knoedler, flied to deep center to score Yost on a sacrifice fly.
The Knoedler brothers continued their offensive onslaught with a pair of solo home runs in the fourth to stretch the lead to 5-0. Justin led off the frame with a blast over the left field fence, and one out later Jason hit a shot that landed on the roof of the Duncan Building, home to Fresno State's weight training facility, behind the right field wall.
Miami put the game away in the fifth inning, scoring eight runs on just three hits. Bucknell committed three errors and Aron and sophomore reliever R.J. Grant (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) combined to walk five RedHawks in the frame. Justin Knoedler doubled in two runs, raising his RBI count to five for the game.
The Bison got on the board with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Centerfielder Ian Joseph (Novelty, Ohio/West Geauga) led off with his second single of the game and the stole second for the second time in the contest. He advanced to third on a deep fly-out to center, and then scored on a single to left by first baseman Russ Lindberg (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel). Lindberg finished the day 2-for-5 and hit .458 (11-24) during the tournament.
Bucknell got its second and final run in the seventh when freshman Ben Stoll (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) doubled to the gap in left center, scoring classmate Pete Wolf (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park & River Forest) who had walked to begin the frame.
Aron took the loss for the Bison, dropping to 1-1 on the season, while Floersch improved to 2-0 for the RedHawks. The Knoedler brothers combined to go 6-for-10 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 7 RBIs.
Bucknell will be back in action on Tuesday, March 20, when it travels to Bloomsburg. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
