Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Navy (Patriot League Championship)
Sunday Sweep Lifts Bucknell Baseball to 2003 Patriot League Crown
5/11/2003 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Having long forgotten a 16-3 drubbing in the series opener, the Bucknell baseball team battered Navy pitching for 30 runs and 34 hits in a pair of do-or-die victories Sunday at Depew Field to capture the best-of-three Patriot League Championship series. The Bison won their third PL crown and will also make their third NCAA Tournament appearance.
Bucknell's title hopes seemed grim when Navy held a 4-2 lead with two outs in the eighth inning in game two of the series, but a key error opened the door for a seven-run rally and a 10-4 victory, then the Bison set the tournament scoring record in a 20-9 win in the third and deciding game of the series.
The Bison also won Patriot League titles in 1996 and 2001. Their NCAA regional destination will be announced on Monday, May 26.
Bucknell sophomore first baseman Brian Day was named tournament MVP. He drove in what proved to be the winning run in game two, then he went 4-for-6 with four RBIs and a school-record-tying five runs scored in game three. In the 20-run outburst, Sam Moss added four hits in seven trips and Ben Krentzman and Phil Bunting added three hits apiece. Bunting also homered and drove in four runs.
Kevin Miller (8-1), the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year who was knocked out early in the championship series opener on Saturday, picked up the win with 3.1 innings in relief of starter R.J. Grant. With a stiff wind blowing out all day, the series finale was a slugfest right from the start. Bucknell scored in each of its first seven turns at bat, while Navy scored in three of its first four. A dozen pitchers were used in the contest, including eight by the Midshipmen.
Trailing 4-2 after two, Navy rallied for three runs in the top of the third. Craig Candeto, who enjoyed a terrific Patriot League Tournament, belted his third home run of the weekend to tie the game at 4-all, and Matt Foster's infield single plated the go-ahead run later in the inning.
Bucknell took the lead for good with a four-run third. The first four batters of the inning reached against Navy reliever Ryan Naquin (0-2), with Day's base hit tying the game at 5-5 and Bunting plating the go-ahead run with a double. Ben Stoll and Pete Wolf added RBI singles later in the inning to give the Bison an 8-5 lead.
Bunting's two-run blast made it 10-5 after four, but the Mids rallied for three runs in their half of the fifth - two coming on Rusty Hearn's first career homer on the first pitch thrown by Miller. Run-scoring doubles by Day and Bunting in the Bison fifth made it 12-8, and the Herd slammed the door with a seven-run sixth frame that was capped by Moss' two-run single.
After Cory Nadler retired all four batters he faced in relief of Miller, Patriot League Rookie of the Year Phil Futrick struck out Chris Ashinhurst to end the game and touch off a celebration on the pitcher's mound.
Of course, that celebration might have come from the visitors' dugout had it not been for a shocking turn of events late in game two of the series earlier on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 4-2 in the decisive top of the eighth, Bucknell scored seven straight runs with two outs, and all seven were unearned thanks to two costly errors by shortstop Brad Hager and another miscue on an errant pickoff throw. Hager booted Stoll's routine grounder to short to start the inning, and Stoll went all the way to third when pitcher Foster (4-5) overthew his first baseman on a pickoff attempt. With Stoll still at third with two outs, Hager fielded Brian Hirchberg's grounder but threw low to first, scoring Stoll and keeping the Bison alive.
After Kyle Walter walked on a 3-2 pitch, Krentzman singled in the tying run. Day followed with an RBI single to plate Walter with the go-ahead run, and one batter later B.J. Batterson lashed a 3-run triple to right-center to break the game open. Wolf homered over the center field fence for an insurance run in the top of the ninth.
Matt Daley (1-1) worked four scoreless innings in relief, allowing only two hits, to earn the win. Zach Allen started for the Bison, and allowed four runs on six hits in five innings. Foster struck out 10 in 7.2 innings for Navy and allowed eight runs, only two of which were earned.
Wolf went 3-for-5 and Krentzman 2-for-4 to pace the Bison's 11-hit attack. Candeto hit his second homer of the tournament for Navy.
Bucknell became the first team since Fordham in 1993 to lose the first game of the championship series and come back to win. It was the third time the Bison hosted the tournament - in 1996 they defeated Navy, while they lost to the Mids in 1999. Bucknell and Navy have now met five times in the deciding series, with the Bison winning three.
The 20 runs were the most scored by the Bison since a 21-13 non-league win over Towson in 2001, and the 30 runs were the most scored in back-to-back games since scoring 31 in wins over Marist and St. Cloud State during the 2000 spring break trip to Florida.
