Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Softball Closes Out Regular Season with Key Series at Lafayette this Weekend
4/28/2006 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 28, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell softball team concludes its regular season with a key four-game series at Lafayette this weekend. Doubleheaders will be played both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's twinbill starts at 1 p.m., while Sunday's is slated for 12 p.m. The Bison and Leopards enter the final weekend of conference play tied for third place with matching 7-9 records.
By winning at least three games in this weekend's series, Bucknell will clinch its third consecutive berth in the Patriot League Tournament. With two wins the Bison will qualify on tiebreakers unless Colgate sweeps Holy Cross in its weekend slate of games. If Bucknell wins one game, or is swept, it may not officially be eliminated from the postseason, pending the outcome of the Colgate-Holy Cross series.
This year's Patriot League Tournament is scheduled for May 12-13 at Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks, who enter the weekend with a league-best 15-1 record, have clinched the top overall seed and the right to host the double-elimination tournament. In the first game of last year's tournament, Bucknell upset top-seeded Lehigh 6-1.
Bucknell is led at the plate by veterans Kris Devore (Washington, Pa./Trinity), Lauren Litts (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg) and Lauren Wible (Dover, Pa./Dover). Devore leads the team in hitting with a .347 average and has pounded a career-high four home runs and 24 runs batted in. Litts has posted career-bests in average (.326), home runs (7) and runs batted in (30), while Wible has piled up three home runs and 26 runs batted in. She is also on the verge of eclipsing the .300 mark with a .296 batting average.
Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) has been the most consistent pitcher for the Bison of late. She is 4-12, but leads the team with a 3.12 ERA. She has struck out a career-high 89 batters in 121.0 innings. The right-hander has pitched five consecutive complete games and allowed more than two runs in just one of those.
Bucknell leads the all-time series with Lafayette 49-21 and has won five straight in the series, including both meetings last year.
Following this weekend's series against the Leopards, who are 16-25 overall, the Bison will be idle until the Patriot League Tournament, should they qualify, because of final exams.
