Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Delaware
Bucknell Softball Swept by Delaware in Final Doubleheader of Regular Season
4/27/2005 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 27, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lauren Wible was 3-for-7 with a home run in the second game to break the Bucknell season and career marks, but it was not enough as Delaware swept the Bison in a non-league softball doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at West Fields. The Blue Hens downed Bucknell 11-4 in the opener with 10 runs in the final three innings. The Bison then fell 5-3 in the nightcap, but did have the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh.
Christie Wiest (6-7) started the first game for Bucknell and extended her consecutive scoreless innings streak to 15.2 before allowing Delaware (26-20) to get on the board when Allison Borchers had a two-out RBI single to center that scored Katie Lee, who led off the inning with a double to center.
Wiest, who went 4.1 innings and allowed five runs, three earned, six hits, three walks and struck out two, retired the side in order in the fourth, allowing a sacrifice fly off the bat of Heather Haskin to tie the game in the bottom of the frame.
Delaware batted around in both the fifth and sixth innings and scored four runs each time. However, four of those runs were unearned as Bucknell shortstop Heather Haskin made one error in the fifth and a pair in the sixth. The Blue Hens did touch Wiest and Lisa Vaccaro, who relieved Wiest with one out in the fifth, for five of their 12 hits during those two innings. The biggest blow, and the only extra-base hit other than Lee's double in the third, was a two-run triple by Barbara Traynor.
Despite already holding a 9-4 advantage, Delaware tacked on two more runs in the seventh off Vaccaro, who yielded six hits, six runs, four earned, and one walk in 2.2 innings. She also recorded two strikeouts. Three of those six hits came in the seventh inning as three of the first four hitters registered singles. Borchers drove in the first run with an RBI single, while Traynor knocked in the other on a fielder's choice.
Carolynn Sloat (15-10) pitched the complete-game eight-hitter for Delaware. She allowed all four runs, just two earned, three walks, and struck out five. The Bison did touch her for three runs in the fifth. With one out, Jennifer James and Megan Fink hit back-to-back singles. They both scored when Wible cleared the bases with a double to left-center. Wible advanced to third on a passed ball and later scored on a single from Devore.
The second game was much closer as Delaware scored more than once in an inning on just one occasion, that coming in the seventh. Bucknell scored single runs in the first, third and fifth innings and had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn't push any runs across.
Haskin relieved Bucknell starter Julie Williams with none out and the score tied at 3-3 and runners on first and second in the top of the sixth. In just her second appearance of the season, Haskin induced infield flies to the first two batters she faced. She walked the next batter to load the bases, but got Erin Stough to fly to center without allowing a run.
Haskin gave the Bucknell offense a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but Kelsey Knapp, who relieved starter Lindsay Jones to begin the fifth, pitched a 1-2-3 inning to send the game to the seventh tied at 3-3.
Entering her second inning of work, Haskin walked the leadoff batter, Lee, in the seventh. The next batter, Michelle Plant, tried to sacrifice bunt Lee to second, but reached on a throwing error by third baseman Jennifer Ross as the ball sailed over the head of James who was covering first. It was the third error of the game, and the sixth of the doubleheader, by the Bison defense. It would prove costly as Haskin loaded the bases by hitting the next batter. It looked like Haskin would get out of the inning unscathed as she induced two straight groundouts where shortstop Kris Devore and then herself forced the lead runner at home, but she walked in the go-ahead run by issuing a four-pitch walk to Jessica Ralston. Then, Lauren Gardner singled to center to score the other run. A third run nearly score, but on Gardner's single, Jill Pompeii gunned down Traynor trying to score from second.
Bucknell ended up getting the tying run on base in the bottom of the inning against Sloat, who picked up her first save of the season by pitching a scoreless frame. Ashley Sarnecky led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by James. Megan Fink then bunted and reached first, but with Sarnecky on third, tried to advance to second. Fink got caught in the run-down and was tagged out with Wible due up next. Instead of coming to the plate with one out and two runners on, Wible, who is hitting .516 this season, batted with two outs and just one runner on. She grounded out to second to end the game.
Earlier in the contest Wible hit a solo home run to lead off the third inning. It was her seventh of the season and the 13th of her career. Both those are new Bucknell records. She also extended her career-best hitting streak to 13 games. The Dover, Pa., native has now hit in 31 of her last 33 games, and 24 of her last 25. She is now second in the nation in hitting behind Arizona's Caitlin Lowe's .519 average.
Wible, James and Devore each had two hits in the second game as Bucknell pounded out nine hits. James was 4-for-8 in the doubleheader with two runs scored from the leadoff position. Devore put together a 4-for-7 day at the plate and registered two runs batted in.
Delaware, which tallied 23 hits in the doubleheader, was paced by Borchers, who was 6-for-8 with two runs scored and four runs batted in during the two games. She was 4-for-4 in the first game. Lee also had an outstanding afternoon, going 4-for-5 at the plate and scoring five runs. She scored four of those runs in the first game, crossing the plate each time she reached base.
Bucknell will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., for the Patriot League Tournament this weekend. The fourth-seeded Bison will take on host and top-seeded Lehigh in their first game of the two-day double-elimination tournament. The two teams are scheduled to square off at 11 a.m. Should Bucknell win, it will play at 1 p.m. against either second-seeded Army or third-seeded Colgate. If the Bison lose, they will play one of those two teams at 3 p.m. Lehigh and Army both swept the four-game season series from Bucknell, while Colgate and the Bison split their four games.
