Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
PL Championships - at Navy
Bucknell Baseball Team Defeats Navy and Advances to NCAA Regionals
5/13/2001 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2001
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Bucknell baseball team captured its second Patriot League title with a 6-2 win over top-seeded Navy to sweep the championship series over the Mids, two-games-to-none. The Bison (31-17) advance to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since the 1996 season.
After advancing to the championship series with a 10-4 win over Holy Cross in the elimination game on Saturday, the Bison took the first game from the Mids (21-25-1) by a 6-4 count and entered today's play needing just one victory to win the conference crown. Sophomore right-hander Zach Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) took to the mound and gave Bucknell a strong pitching performance, tossing seven innings and allowing just one earned run. He gave up just four hits and walked just two while improving to 5-4 on the season. Classmate Kevin Burns (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep) pitched the final two frames, allowing just one hit, and picked up his first save.
As they did on Saturday against the Mids, the Bison jumped on top first, scoring one run in the second and two in the third to take a 3-0 lead. Back-to-back doubles by Kevin Eiben (Delta, British Columbia/Vancouver College) and Jeff Peck (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) produced the two-out run in the second, and a walk to Brad Gething (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) and singles by John DiBonaventura (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland) and Russ Lindberg (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel) produced the first run in the third. Lindberg and DiBonaventura then pulled off a double steal, and DiBonaventura slid across home plate for Bucknell's third run.
Navy answered with a run in the fourth. After Allen hit Willie Gury by a pitch, Rusty Hearn singled to center and Dominic Nicolini doubled to right center, scoring Gury to make the score 3-1.
The Bison added two big insurance runs in the sixth inning off Navy starter Matt Foster. After Lindberg reached on an error, senior right fielder Mike Ritz (Old Tappan, N.J./Northern Valley Regional) hit a shot down the line in right that cleared the fence for his seventh home run of the season and a 5-1 Bucknell lead.
Navy plated an unearned run in the seventh, taking advantage of a fly ball that dropped in left field. John Cocca drove in the run on a groundout, before Allen got Jason Guidos to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Bucknell's final run came in the eighth. Ritz singled to lead off and moved to second on a two-out single by senior Chris Herron (Vienna, Va./Bishop O'Connell). The two then pulled off a double steal, and when the throw from the catcher sailed into center field Ritz came home with what turned out to be an unearned run.
Ritz led the Bison at the plate, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Gething was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after going 6-for-11 with five runs scored and three RBIs over the weekend. In addition, he threw out three runners from his catchers position.
The win was the Bison's 31st of the season, tying the school record established by the 1998 team. It was also the 350th career win for head coach Gene Depew.
The regional sites will be announced on Monday, May 14, while the pairings will come out on Monday, May 21.
