Bucknell University
Holy Cross *
Bucknell Softball Completes 4-Game Sweep of Holy Cross, Earns Patriot League Tournament Berth
4/25/2004 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2004
Game 1 Box Score -- Game 2 Box Score
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Backed by a pair of complete-game pitching performances from Julie Williams and Lisa Vaccaro, the Bucknell softball team Sunday completed its first-ever four-game sweep of Holy Cross and earned the added prize of a bid to the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison won by scores of 4-3 and 7-4, giving them five wins in their last six outings.
The start of the doubleheader was delayed 3 hours, 48 minutes by rain, but the wait was well worth it for the Bison (13-23, 8-12), who will be returning to the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2000. Bucknell entered the weekend one game behind Holy Cross (10-28, 5-15) for the fourth and final tournament spot, but the Bison vaulted past the Crusaders, leaving them out of the PL tourney for the first time.
While seniors Kristen Potts, Jenna Fitch and Angela Stackhouse were honored before the first game, it was a freshman, designated player Lauren Litts, who was the offensive star of the day for the Bison. Litts went 3-for-3 in the opener, doubling home a run to cap Bucknell's three-run first inning, then she scored what proved to be a much-needed insurance run after belting another double in the sixth. After Bucknell fell behind 3-0 early in game two, Litts crushed a three-run home run to left field to give the Bison a 5-3 lead after three innings. Litts was 5-for-6 on the day with three doubles, a homer and five runs batted in.
Williams (7-9) went the distance in the opener for her third victory of the weekend. She allowed three runs on nine hits, while striking out two and walking three. Stackhouse hit a two-run homer - her sixth of the year, tying the school record also shared by Lisa Fink (1990) and Karen Smolskis (1991) - to stake Williams to a quick first-inning cushion.
Holy Cross closed within 3-2 on single runs in the fifth and sixth, first on an RBI triple by Megan Lally then on a sac fly by Akemi Topel. An RBI single by Fitch made it 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, setting up a dramatic, and controversial, top of the seventh.
After Mary Beth Ryan singled to open the inning, Melissa Beshire hit a line shot to shallow center that Bucknell's Jen James appeared to snare with a headlong dive. The base umpire ruled it a catch, and Bucknell threw back to first to double off Ryan. But the plate umpire simultaneously ruled that James trapped the ball, and after a lengthy conversation, Holy Cross had two runners on with nobody out. Justice was served for the Bison two pitches later, however, when first baseman Lauren Wible snared Alycia Fitzpatrick's hot smash, then stepped on the bag to double off Beshire.
Still Holy Cross was not finished, as a walk and two wild pitches plated a run to make it a 4-3 game. With runners at second and third, Williams finally escaped by retiring Michelle Greene on a ground out to short. Williams also worked out of trouble in the early innings, getting a ground ball double play to evade a bases-loaded one-out jam in the first, then she escaped a first-and-third one-out situation with a strikeout and groundout in the second.
With a playoff berth clinched, Vaccaro (2-2) allowed only one earned run en route to the victory in game two. In fact, only one of the game's 11 runs were earned, as Holy Cross committed four errors and the Bison two. James and Michelle Danish both had three hits, while Litts had the big three-run homer to bring the Bison back from the early deficit.
Leading 5-4 the Bison picked up key insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Danish's RBI double made the Crusaders pay for a dropped fly ball in center field, and in the sixth James scored on a throwing error after reaching on a one-out single. Vaccaro retired 9 of the last 11 batters she faced to seal the win.
Bucknell has one more non-league tuneup prior to next weekend's Patriot League Tournament. The Bison host Mount St. Mary's in a doubleheader on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Bucknell will be the No. 4 seed at the Patriot League Tournament and travel to Lehigh next Saturday.
