Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
St. Bonaventure
St. Bonaventure Takes Two From Bucknell Baseball
4/24/2002 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 24, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell closed out its 2002 home schedule on a down note, falling twice to visiting St. Bonaventure Wednesday afternoon at Bucknell Field. The Bison lost 5-2 in the opener and 8-4 in the nightcap.
Bucknell (14-32) has now lost 10 straight, its longest losing streak since the 1990 season, and 12 of its last 13. St. Bonaventure (19-8) snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the ninth time in its last 11 tries.
Freshman Tim Peacock (0-2) made his first career start in game one and went the distance to earn his first career complete game. He scattered seven hits for the game, walked one and struck out two. Starting pitcher Soren Johnson (4-1) threw four innings for St. Bonaventure to pick up the win. He held the Bison to one run on three hits.
The Bonnies did the bulk of their damage in game one during the third and fourth innings. Mike Rapacioli, St. Bonaventure's No. 3 hitter, lofted a two-out double into left to put the Bonnies on top 2-0 in the third. St. Bonaventure squeezed out two more runs in the fourth to take a 4-1 advantage.
The Bison plated their first run in the bottom of the third, when Eric Fishman drove home Phil Bunting on a groundout.
St. Bonaventure added one more run in the fifth to make it 5-1. With two outs the Bonnies No. 6 batter, Damian Blakely, tripled to left-center, and scored one batter later on Dan Dennison's double down the right field line.
Pitcher Saul Solveson entered the game in the fifth for St. Bonaventure, and shut out the Bison in the fifth and sixth. Bucknell scored its final run when Bunting crossed the plate following another RBI-groundout.
In the nightcap, the Bonnies scored eight unanswered runs on 12 hits through the first six innings, and four St. Bonaventure pitchers combined to limit Bucknell to five hits.
Cory Nadler (0-3) started on the mound for the Bison and blanked the Bonnies for two and two-thirds innings, but a pair of two-out walks in the third proved to be costly. Nadler issued free passes to St. Bonaventure's No. 4 and No. 5 batters, Eric Wilson and Mike Tegeler. Josh Paine followed up with an RBI-double, and Damian Blakelely gave the Bonnies a 3-0 edge with a bases-clearing single.
In the meantime, St. Bonaventure starting pitcher Kevin Niemczura (2-1), Nate Cameron and Brian Mitchell were cruising on the hill for the Bonnies. Niemczura fired three innings of no-hit ball, while Cameron allowed no runs and two hits over the fourth and fifth innings. Mitchell blanked Bucknell in the sixth before running into trouble in the seventh.
St. Bonaventure scored once more off Nadler in the fourth before being removed in the fifth in favor of Zach Allen. After throwing a scoreless fifth, Allen was replaced by Jay Weiner, who surrendered four runs in two-thirds of an inning in the sixth as the Bonnies went ahead 8-0. Gregg Farmery fired a three-up, three-down seventh.
Mitchell had trouble finding the plate to start the seventh, walking a batter and hitter a batter before being relieved by third baseman Wilson. Steve Stutzman greeted Wilson with a single to load the bases, and two batters later Sam Moss plated the Bison's first run on a sacrifice fly. After Larry Scheetz was hit with a pitch to load the bases again, Fishman blasted a bases-clearing triple into the right-center gap to bring the Bison to within 8-4. But Ben Krentzman grounded out to end the game.
Bucknell will conclude its regular season schedule on Saturday and Sunday when it travels to Lafayette for a pair of doubleheaders against the league-leading Leopards. Game time is set for noon each day.
