Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Cornell
Bucknell Baseball Closes Out Weekend Series Against Cornell with Split
3/5/2007 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 4, 2007
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Bucknell baseball team closed out its weekend series against Cornell at La Salle's Hank DeVincent Field by splitting Sunday's doubleheader, falling in game one 8-4, but rebounding in game two with an 11-7 victory. Following the day's action, the Bison are now 3-5 on the year, while the Big Red sit at 1-3.
Cornell jumped on the board first in game two, taking a 1-0 lead in the opening inning following an RBI single by Nathan Ford that plated Domenic Di Riccio.
However, the Orange and Blue responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame and four more in the second. In the first, junior Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) tripled to left centerfield and senior Ryan Gryskevicz (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) belted a two-run homer to bring the score to 2-1. Then in the second, sophomore Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) plated junior Austin Turban (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) and sophomore Zachary Brown (Stroudsburg, Pa./Notre Dame) with a one-out double. Freshman Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) singled and scored the third run of the inning on a groundout by classmate Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley).
The Big Red answered back by posting five runs in the third. Ford drove in the first two with a home run, while Jimmy Heinz tallied two RBI on a double and scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch.
Cornell took a 6-5 lead on a solo shot by Adam Jacobs in the fourth, but that would be the squad's final run in the contest as the Bison scored three times in the bottom of the inning and tacked on one run in both the fifth and the seventh. Buursma drove in Grandizio and Allen with a double in the fourth and Gryskevicz followed up with an RBI single to plate Yoder. Junior Chris Pieper (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) scored in the fifth when sophomore Jared Kuhmerker (Alexandria, Va./TC Williams) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Brown accounted for the 11th run with a leadoff homer in the seventh.
Freshman Andrew Clarke (Montgomery, Texas/Montgomery) was one of seven Bucknell pitchers to see action in the contest and picked up the first win of his collegiate career (1-0) after working 1.1 innings out of the bullpen. In the outing, he allowed one run on four hits with no walks and one strikeout. Reliever Adam Loeding took the loss (0-1) for Cornell as he gave up three runs, two earned, on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in two innings of work.
Gryskevicz hit 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and a run scored to lead the Bison in game two. Buursma was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, two RBI and one run scored. Grandizio drove in two and scored two, while Brown and Allen each accounted for two runs scored in the contest. For the Big Red, Ford finished with three RBI on 2-for-5 hitting with a run scored and Jacobs went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
In the opening game, Cornell took a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI doubles by Brian Kaufman and Ford. Kaufman drove in Di Riccio who reached with a leadoff walk and then came home on Ford's hit.
The Orange and Blue cut its deficit in half in the bottom of the frame as Grandizio began the inning a single and scored on a triple by Buursma.
Then in the second, the Big Red scored twice to extend their advantage to 4-1. Scott Hardinger walked and later crossed the plate following an error for the first run and Brant McKown brought in Kaufman with an RBI single.
In the bottom of the third, the Bison managed to plate three to knot the score at 4-4. Grandizio and junior Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) started things off with back-to-back singles and Gryskevicz brought them in with a two-run double to left field. He would later score the third run of the inning on a double-steal play.
Cornell kept Bucknell's hitters from doing further damage, however, and notched its only win of the weekend after plating the go-ahead runs in the sixth and seventh to bring game one final to 8-4.
Senior Matt Curry (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) started and suffered the setback (0-3) for the Orange and Blue. In 5.1 innings of work, he allowed six runs, four earned, on five hits with six walks and six strikeouts. Walker Toma registered the victory (1-1) for the Big Red. He threw 4.2 scoreless innings and allowed one hit with two walks and three strikeouts.
Gryskevicz logged two RBI and was 1-for-4 in the opening contest, while Grandizio scored a pair of runs and hit 2-for-3 to pace the Bison offense. Ford drove in three runs on two hits for Cornell, while Kaufman finished 3-for-4 at the dish with three runs scored and two batted in.
Bucknell will return to action on Friday, Mar. 9, when it will open its home series against Niagara beginning on Depew Field beginning at 3 p.m.
