Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Liberty
Bucknell Baseball Drops Two Close Ones at Liberty
2/26/2005 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2005
LYNCHBURG, Pa. - Michael Just's single followed by a miscue in the outfield in the bottom of the seventh inning helped Liberty to its second come-from-behind victory of the day and a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell on Saturday at Worthington Stadium. The Flames took the opening nine-inning game 10-8, then won the seven-inning nightcap 3-2.
Bucknell (0-5) got a terrific pitching performance from Matt Curry in game two. Curry went six innings and yielded just a single run on eight hits, and he seemed primed for the win when the Bison scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead. With the bases loaded Chris Grandizio hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Then with runners at the corners Brad Duvall hit a ground ball to third, but Chad Miller's throw to the plate was off target allowing Chris Pieper to score the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the seventh P.K. Keller singled home the tying run off Bison reliever Jason Buursma (0-1). Just followed with a single to right field, and Keller came all the way around to score the winning run when Ryan Gryskevicz allowed the ball to get past him.
Ryan Page (1-0) went the distance for Liberty, allowing only four hits, two coming off the bat of Brian Day.
Bucknell pounded out 13 hits in the game-one slugfest, including two each from Duvall, Buursma, Matt Capece, Kyle Walter at Matt Belmont. Walter's two-run double highlighted a four-run fourth inning that gave the Bison a 6-1 lead.
Liberty (6-1) came back with three in the bottom half of the fourth, but the Bison plated two more in the fifth on Capece's two-run single. The Flames stormed back by scored twice in each of the next three innings off Tim Peacock, Ed Rubbo and Jacob Moss (0-1).
Adam Kearney laced a two-out, two-run double to tie it at 8-all in the sixth inning, then Nate Maddox drove in the go-ahead run on an infield hit in the seventh. Keller's squeeze bunt plated an insurance run later in the inning.
Phillip Thompson (2-0) earned the win in relief of Michael Solbach for the Flames. David Bechtold struck out three of the four batters he faced to earn his second save.
The Bison and Flames will wrap up their three-game series with a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.
