Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army
Bucknell Softball Drops a Pair to Army, 4-0 and 7-0
3/30/2002 7:00:00 AM | Softball
March 30, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell softball team's offense could not be found on Saturday afternoon as the Bison were blanked in two games by visiting Army in the Patriot League opener for both teams. Black Knights senior Shauna Evans threw her first career no-hitter in a 4-0 win in the opener, and Ashlie Christian scattered six hits in a 7-0 nightcap decision for Army.
In the opener, Army staked Evans (6-4) to an early lead after plating an unearned run in the second, then added insurance markers in the late innings with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames en route to the 4-0 decision. Bucknell never threatened in the game, failing to get a runner past first base.
For Army, rightfielder Nicki Robbins was 2-for-4 and knocked in a pair of runs on back-to-back doubles. Her first two-bagger with two outs in the top of the fourth delivered Lindsay March, who had singled, for a 2-0 lead. Her second double closed out the scoring in the sixth when her shot to right field chased home Bianca Brito after she had collected her second hit.
Sandwiched in between was a solo blast by Gina Fox in leading off the fifth. Fox scored Army's unearned run in the second inning after crossing on an error by the shortstop.
Evans struck out four batters and issued two walks, one in the second and the other in the fifth, in going the distance on her first no-hitter. Bison hurler Brandi Porter had her second-straight nine strikeout performance, but allowed eight Black Knight's hits and walked four batters through seven innings to fall to 2-5 on the year.
In the 7-0 nightcap loss, Army scored three times in its first at bat in capitalizing on three hits and an error. Brito led off with a bunt, was sacrificed to second and moved to third on Robbins' double. Both she and Robbins scored on a throwing error by the Bison, and Lisa Huntington, who got on by a fielder's choice, was knocked in by a Fox single up the middle.
Army made it 4-0 in the third when Fox doubled with one out, moved to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a passed ball. Third baseman Jenny Ross collected Bucknell's first hit of the day in the bottom of the third when she singled through the right side, but a fly out and double play got Black Knights out of the frame without any damage.
The visitors pushed the lead to 5-0 when Robbins delivered her third home run of the season in the top of the fifth, and the team tallied two more in the seventh to come away with the 7-0 win. The Orange and Blue had at least one hit in four of the last five innings, but could not get a runner past second to cut into the score.
Junior Lauren Box took the loss for Bucknell, pitching the full seven and giving up eight hits.
The Bison and Black Knights will close out their four-game series with another doubleheader on Sunday.
Game 1 Army 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 - 4 8 0 Bucknell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 2Evans and Burke, Porter and Stackhouse. WP - Evans (6-4). LP - Porter (2-5). RBI - A: Robbins (2), Fox. 2B - A: Robbins. HR - A: Fox.
Game 2 Army 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 - 7 8 1 Bucknell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 2Christian, Harrell (7) and Tsuchiya, Box and Fitch. WP - Christian (4-2). LP - Box (2-4). RBI - A: Romack (2), Huntington, Robbins. 2B - A: Fox, Robbins. HR - A: Robbins.
Team Records: Army 12-8 (2-0 Patriot League). Bucknell 6-12 (0-2 Patriot League).
