Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Siena
Three Home Runs Not Enough in Extra Inning Loss at Siena
4/15/2004 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 15, 2004
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Seniors Angela Stackhouse and Jenna Fitch, and sophomore Lauren Wible each homered for the Bison in the opening game against Siena, but the sluggers were not enough as the softball team eventually fell to the Saints, 12-11, in nine innings. The Orange and Blue then dropped a 5-1 decision in the nightcap that was shortened due to darkness.
Bucknell got an early start in the first game when Stackhouse put the team ahead 1-0 with her first-inning homerun to left center. The lead was shortlived, however, as Jamie Walker stole home in the bottom of the second to get Siena on the board and tie the game.
Stackhouse recorded her second RBI of the game when she hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, allowing senior Kristen Potts to score to put BU back on top, 2-1. The Orange and Blue extended it to a 5-1 game with a three-run fourth inning.
Junior Jill Pompeii and Potts both came through with RBI singles with one out, before Siena replaced starting pitcher Jannelle Iaquinto with Adrian St. Cin. St. Cin struck the next batter out, but freshman Michelle Danish scored on a passed ball before St. Cin could get the third out.
After the Saints got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, the Bison added another one in the top of the sixth on Wible's RBI single with two outs. Down 6-2, Siena came storming back in the bottom of the frame to score four runs on one hit and two of Bucknell's six miscues in the game.
With the score knotted at 6-6, both teams came up empty in their seventh inning attempts, forcing the game to extra innings. In what was beginning to be a high-scoring affair, BU sent three runners across the plate in the eighth inning to build a 9-6 lead. Two of those runs came on Wible's first homerun of the year.
The Saints refused to go quietly, scoring three of their own in the bottom of the inning to keep the game moving. Siena collected four hits off of relief pitcher Julie Williams in the frame, including a three-run shot from Sarah Rose that tied the game with one swing.
Bucknell again jumped on St. Cin in the ninth when Fitch led off the inning with a homer to left center, also bringing in freshman Meghan Feller, who was on second as a result of the international tie-breaker rule. Tisha Salamino came in to relieve St. Cin, sitting the Bison down in order to come out of it down 11-9.
Two more BU errors in the bottom of the inning, including one that allowed the winning run to cross the plate, cost the Bison the game. Siena scored three times on three hits to win the game with one out in the ninth.
Fitch finished the game 4-for-5 with two RBI and her first homer of the year. Wible was 3-for-5 with three RBI and the round-tripper, while Potts was 2-for-4.
After pounding out 14 hits in the first game, Bucknell could only manage five in the second. The Orange and Blue again committed six errors in the contest, giving the Saints two unearned runs in the 5-1 win.
Williams was on the mound to start the game, only allowing four hits in four innings, but Siena touched her for three runs before she gave way to freshman Lisa Vacarro. Vacarro pitched one inning, allowing three hits and two runs.
The Saints only led 2-0 before scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. The Bison got one back in the top of the sixth on freshman Lauren Litts' RBI double to left field, but the game was called after the third out due to darkness.
Tara Campbell was commanding on the mound for Siena, striking out 10 BU batters in just six innings.
Stackhouse was 2-for-3 in the contest with a double.
Bucknell falls to 7-19 overall. The Bison host Army for a critical Patriot League series on Saturday and Sunday, April 17-18. Siena is 8-16 overall.
