Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Butler (Rebel Spring Games)
Bucknell Softball Drops Two on Day Four of Rebel Spring Games
3/16/2006 7:00:00 AM | Softball
March 16, 2006
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - After splitting games on each of its first three days at the Rebel Spring Games, the Bucknell softball team dropped both its contests Thursday. The Bison fell to Wagner 13-3 in six innings in their first game of the day. They then lost to Butler 7-3 to fall to 3-5 during their spring break trip to Florida.
In the opener against Wagner, the Seahawks scored at least one run in every inning as the Bucknell (3-15) pitching staff walked eight hitters and hit two more. Wagner needed just nine hits to score its 13 runs off four Bison pitchers.
Tanya Roth (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes), who started and got the loss to fall to 0-3 this season, lasted just 1.1 innings. She gave up just two hits and three runs, but walked three batters and hit two others. Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) relieved Roth and lasted 3.1 innings and yielded just three hits. However, the Bison defense committed three of their four errors with her in the game and she gave up seven runs, with four of them earned. Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York) replaced Wiest with two outs in the fifth inning and a runner on third base. Andrea Lazzari, who was 3-for-5 with four runs batted in, had an RBI single before McDonald got out of the inning with a ground out by the next hitter.
McDonald stayed in the game to start the sixth inning, but the first five hitters she faced reached base on three walks and two singles. Meaghan Haley (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) came on with the score 12-3 and gave up just a sacrifice fly while retiring three of the four hitters she faced.
Bucknell, which managed seven hits in the game, but just one in the first three innings did its scoring in the fourth and fifth innings. Lauren Litts (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg), who was 2-for-5 with three RBI in the two games Thursday, knocked home Kristin Frick (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) with a double down the left field line. She was gunned down trying to advance to third base.
Bucknell's other two runs came in the bottom of the fifth with the game on the verge of being halted due to the eight-run rule with Wagner leading 10-1 entering the inning. However, the Bison stayed alive with an RBI single from Jennifer James (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and a line drive from Litts that was muffed by the third baseman with the bases loaded.
Ami Iwicki joined Lazzari with three hits for Wagner, which also had four players with at least two RBIs.
Junior Morgan Miller (5-4) recorded her fifth win of the season as she scattered seven hits and did not allow a walk and struck out four in six innings of work.
Bucknell took a 2-0 lead over Butler in the fourth inning. After Bulldog starter Nikki Naffziger, who pitched a complete game, faced the minimum through the first three innings due to a pair of baserunning blunders, Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) drew a one-out walk. Lauren Wible (Dover, Pa./Dover) followed with a double that clanged off the first base bag. Litts followed with a sacrifice fly, while Kris Devore (Washington, Pa./Trinity) knocked home the second run with a single. She has a team-high 10 RBI this season.
Naffziger settled down again and retired seven straight Bison until Litts led off the seventh with a solo home run, her third of the season and 11th of her career, to cut the deficit to 7-3. Bucknell finished with just five hits in the game. Four of those came in the fourth and seventh innings.
Butler scored one run in the fourth and one run in the sixth, but pushed across five in the fifth as the Bulldogs paraded 10 hitters to the plate. Butler had six consecutive hitters reach base, the first five against Bison starter Meg Muirhead (Glendale, Calif./Flintridge Acad.) (1-5). Muirhead lasted 4.1 innings, but gave up seven hits and six runs. She did strike out four and walked just one. Haley finished the game and had produced a solid 1.2 innings, but still allowed six baserunners.
Bucknell wraps up play at the Rebel Spring Games Friday with a pair of games against Saint Louis. The first one is at 8:50 a.m. with the second to follow at 10:40 a.m.
