Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Cornell
Bucknell Baseball Splits with Cornell in Home Opener
3/4/2006 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2006
•Box Score - Game 1
•Box Score - Game 2
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell baseball team split its home opener against Cornell on Saturday, falling 6-4 in game one, but rebounding with a 10-4 victory in game two. With the split, the Bison are 1-4 overall, while the Big Red are 1-1 on the season.
In game two, with the help of senior Kyle Walter (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) and sophomore Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School), Bucknell jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after three innings.
With one out in the bottom of the first, Walter drove in senior Matt Capece (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic), who reached with a walk, with a double through the left side. Buursma followed with a double down the right field line to plate Walter and would later score on a fielder's choice, giving the Bison a 3-0 advantage.
The Orange and Blue added three more runs in the second inning as senior Chris Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) reached on an error to begin the inning and came around to score on a bases loaded walk to Buursma. Capece walked for a second time in as many innings and scored on a fielder's choice, while Walter scored the final run of the inning after reaching with a single, coming home while senior Chris Brannan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) was caught in a rundown stealing second.
In the third, Grandizio plated junior Ryan Gryskevicz (Dallas, Pa./Dallas), who knocked a leadoff single, moving the score to 7-0.
Cornell threatened in the top of the fourth. Brian Kaufman singled and Kaleb Hutchinson walked to begin the inning and advanced to second and third with one out on a double-steal. Kaufman then scored on a single to left by Brant McKown and Ryan Michael followed with a single to right that drove in Hutchinson. William Pauly walked to load the bases with one out for Scott Hardinger, but Bison starter senior Jacob Moss (Fresno, Calif./San Joaquin Memorial) turned a brilliant double play to get out of the inning.
Bucknell took one of the runs back in the bottom half of the fourth as Walter scorched a triple to right center and came home on an RBI single by Buursma. The Orange and Blue added two more in the fifth inning. Sophomore Shawn Hirsch (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) reached with a walk and scored on a fielder's choice and then Walter drove in Capece with a single to left field to put the Bison up by a 10-2 margin.
The Big Red managed to score two runs in the eighth, but that would be all as senior Ian Rainey (Littleton, Colo./Littleton) preserved the win for Moss, pitching four innings of relief and allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Moss (1-0) picked up the victory and allowed two runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings. Starter Jim Hyland (0-1) took the loss for Cornell as he pitched four innings and allowed eight runs, five earned, on eight hits with five walks and four strikeouts. Stephen Osterer relieved him and gave up two unearned runs on two hits with three walks and one strikeout.
Walter finished game two 4-for-4 at the plate with two singles, a double, a triple, three runs scored and two RBI to lead Bucknell's hitters. Buursma was 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI, Gryskevicz hit 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI and Capece scored three runs in the contest.
In game one, the Bison took a 3-0 lead into the top of the fifth, but could not hold on, eventually falling by a 6-4 margin in the seven-inning contest.
Capece singled with one out in the first and scored on a single by Brannan to give Bucknell a 1-0 lead. Then in the fourth, Gryskevicz and sophomore Austin Turban (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) began the inning with back-to-back singles and later scored the second and third runs for the Bison on a wild pitch and a fielder's choice.
However, the three-run lead would not stand as Cornell managed three runs on four hits and one error in the fifth, including a three-run homer by Kaufman to tie the score, and plated three runs on four hits and one error again in the sixth to climb in front, 6-3. Bucknell threatened in the seventh, but scored only freshman Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) on a sacrifice fly by senior Brad Duvall (Hampstead, Md./Hereford).
Junior Matt Curry (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) started on the mound for the Bison and took the loss (0-2). He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts over five innings. Rocky Collins (1-0) picked up the win for the Big Red, going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
The teams will return to action tomorrow, Sunday March 5, to play the second doubleheader of the weekend series with game one beginning at noon at Depew Field.
