Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army
Bucknell Baseball Completes Sweep of Army with 1-0 and 6-1 Victories
4/10/2006 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 10, 2006
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
WEST POINT, N.Y. - With 1-0 and 6-1 victories over Army, the Bucknell baseball team completed the series sweep of the Black Knights and extended the team's current winning streak to six games. With the pair of wins, the Bison improve to 13-17 overall, 5-3 in the Patriot League, while Army falls to 13-16-1, 1-7 in league play.
The sweep also marked the first time Bucknell ever swept the Black Knights in a four-game series and the first time winning the season series in Patriot League history.
In the sixth inning of game one, Bucknell broke up the scoreless deadlock when senior Matt Capece (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) singled through the left side, advanced to second on the throw, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Kyle Walter (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg).
Army threatened to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh. With two strikes on him and two out, Cole White singled to right and went to third on an error. However, sophomore Mathew Wilson (Toronto, Ontario/Northern S.S.) ended the Black Knights' hopes of a comeback by striking out Jeremy Stache looking to end the game.
Wilson earned the win (1-2) for Bucknell, throwing a two-hit complete game shutout with one walk and four strikeouts. White started for Army and suffered the loss (3-3). He pitched 5.1 innings and allowed one run on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. Dan Pluff relieved him and allowed one hit with no walks and one strikeout in 1.2 innings of work.
Junior Ryan Gryskevicz (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) and sophomore Shawn Hirsch (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) both went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Orange and Blue in game one. Milan Dinga and White had the only two hits for the Black Knights.
With two out in the top of the first, Bucknell jumped out to an early lead in game two with a double to right by senior Chris Brannan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) that brought in Walter who reached on a fielder's choice and Gryskevicz who singled to center. Sophomore Chris Pieper (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) followed and was hit by a pitch, bringing classmate Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) to the plate. Buursma singled to right, driving in Brannan, and Hirsch plated Pieper with a single for the final run of the inning, giving the Bison a 4-0 lead.
The following inning, Bucknell added a fifth run with a sacrifice fly by Gryskevicz that scored senior Brad Duvall (Hampstead, Md./Hereford). Then in the third, Brannan belted a leadoff home run to right field, to increase the advantage to 6-0.
Army ended the Bison's string of 16 shutout innings in the bottom of the eighth when Dinga reached on an error and scored on an RBI groundout by White.
Junior Nathan Mittag (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) threw eight innings and allowed one unearned run on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts to earn the victory (3-3). Walter relieved him and pitched a hitless ninth with one walk and one strikeout. Drew Clothier started for Army and allowed five runs, four earned, on five hits with no walks and no strikeouts in a losing effort (0-3).
Brannan went 2-for-4 at the pate with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in game two to lead the Bison.
Bucknell will next travel to Towson for a single game on Wednesday, April 12, which is set to begin at 3 p.m.
