Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army*
Bucknell Softball Swept by Army, 9-6 and 11-4
4/16/2006 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 16, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Kris Devore (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and Lauren Litts (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg) combined to go 11-for-15 with three runs batted in and three runs scored, but it was not enough as Army swept a Patriot League softball doubleheader from Bucknell Sunday afternoon at West Fields by scores of 9-6 and 11-4. The two teams split the four-game weekend series.
Despite pounding 23 hits in the two games, the Bison could not come away with a victory as they fell to 10-28 overall and 4-8 in the Patriot League. The Black Knights improved to 13-26 and 6-6 in league play.
Army plated five runs in the top of the first inning of game one on six hits as seven consecutive batters reached base safely at one point. A pair of two-run singles by Darcy Wilson and Nikki Posey were the big blows in the inning off Bucknell starter Meg Muirhead (3-9) (Glendale, Calif./Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy). Muirhead settled down as she only yielded four more hits and one run over her next four innings of work.
Bucknell was able to cut the deficit to 6-4 at the end of five innings with single runs in the second and third innings, and a pair in the fifth. Jen James (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) drove home the second-inning run with a double to center that scored Devore. Litts registered the first of her three hits in the game with an RBI single in the third. Heather Haskin (Noblesville, Ind./Thomas Scecina) then plated two more runs with a two-out, bases-loaded single in the fifth.
After pitching four effective innings since the rocky first, Muirhead allowed a single and a double to Sarah Yates and Melissa Garza leading off the sixth inning. She was then replaced by Meaghan Haley (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley), who after allowing Yates and Garza to score, yielded just one run and two hits in 2.0 innings.
Bucknell did close the gap to 8-6 with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Litts, her third of the game. However, Army added one in the top of the seventh and Kelly Trout got the Bison 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to pick up her second save of the season. She retired all five batters she faced after replacing starter Veronica Barth (5-13) with runners on first and second and one out in the sixth.
Litts finished the first game 3-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored. Devore was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Bucknell registered 10 hits in the contest. Army, which was led by a 3-for-4 performance from Wilson, tallied 14 hits and a total of five players had a multiple-hit game.
Army again jumped out on top in the second game with one run in the top of the first inning on an RBI-double by Lindsey Gerheim.
Bucknell took its first lead of the day with two runs in the second as Haskin knocked in pinch runner Monica Grinage (Braddock, Pa./Shady Side Academy) with a double, and later scored when Ashley Carlson (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) reached on a fielding error by Trout, the starting pitcher.
The Bison lead was short-lived as Army scored four runs on three hits, one walk and one error in the top of the third off starter Christie Wiest (2-9) (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley). Wiest was replaced two hitters into the fourth inning by Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area). McDonald entered with a runner on third base and just one out and got out of the jam without allowing a run.
The Black Knights added to their lead with four more runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Bucknell plated single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Lauren Wible (Dover, Pa./Dover) drove in her 90th career run, which tied her for second on the program's all-time list, with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, while Cassie Lloyd (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) had a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth.
Trout picked up the win with a complete-game effort as she scattered 13 Bison hits and allowed just two earned runs.
Devore led the Bison offense with a career-high four hits, while Carlson, Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) and Litts all had two hits in the contest.
Gerheim, who was only a triple short of the cycle, and Veronica Lauzon paced the Black Knights with three hits apiece in the nightcap. Gerheim, Lauzon and Wilson, the 3-4-5 hitters in Army's lineup were 6-for-13 with five RBI and six runs in game two, and 11-for-21 with eight RBI and nine runs in the doubleheader.
Bucknell continues its homestand with a doubleheader against Towson Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Bison and Tigers were originally supposed to play April 5, but the twinbill was postponed due to snow.
