Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Will Look to Stay Hot with Four Against Holy Cross this Weekend
4/20/2006 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 20, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Having won 10 of its last 12, the red-hot Bucknell baseball team will look to keep things going this weekend with four crucial Patriot League games against Holy Cross on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23, at home on Depew Field. The Bison enter the weekend 7-5 in league play, tied for second in the Patriot League standings with Lafayette, while the Crusaders sit in sixth with a 3-9 league record.
As a squad, Bucknell ranks first in league games among the six PL teams with a .321 batting average (.297 overall, third) and in ERA at 3.90 (3.81 overall, second). Holy Cross is hitting .265 as a team in league contests (.280 overall, fifth) and has a staff ERA of 4.86 (5.66 overall, sixth) to sit fifth in both categories.
Since the teams first met in 1991, the Bison are 33-22 against the Crusaders. Last season Bucknell split with Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., taking the final two games of the series, 3-1 and 14-3.
Senior Chris Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) leads the Orange and Blue with a .348 average on the year and has 11 doubles and 15 runs scored, while junior Ryan Gryskevicz (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) is right behind him, hitting .343. Senior Kyle Walter (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) has a .323 average and leads the league with 14 doubles. Walter is approaching his 200th career hit and is in need of just six more to reach the milestone. He also trails the Bucknell career doubles record by two. Senior Matt Capece (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) and sophomore Chris Pieper (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) have been particularly pesky for Patriot League pitchers to retire so far in 2006 as the duo rank second and third in batting average in league games, hitting .458 and .424, respectively.
Tucker Frawley of Holy Cross is batting .396 on the year and has a squad-best nine doubles, two triples and 32 RBI. Norm Roth leads the team in runs scored with 28 and is second on the squad, hitting .343.
Three of Bucknell's regular starting pitchers rank among the league leaders in ERA. Senior Jacob Moss (Fresno, Calif./San Joaquin Memorial) is third in the PL with a 2.61 ERA and is 3-2 on the season with a team-best 26 strikeouts. Junior Matt Curry (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) is fourth in the league with a 2.91 ERA and leads the Bison with four complete games on the year. His classmate, Nathan Mittag (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) has a 4.57 ERA (13th in the PL) and has a team-high four wins this season. Sophomore Mathew Wilson (Toronto, Ontario/Northern S.S.) is 2-2 in four starts with two complete games and one shutout.
Scott Hampe heads up the Holy Cross staff, leading the team in innings pitched (47.2) with three complete games, a 3-2 record, and a 3.78 ERA.
Both doubleheaders are slated for noon starts, while elsewhere around the League, Army will travel to Navy and Lafayette will play at Lehigh.
