Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Softball Drops Two Games to Colgate, 4-2 & 9-2
5/5/2007 8:00:00 AM | Softball
May 5, 2007
Bucknell vs. Colgate Game One Box Score (L, 4-2)
Bucknell vs. Colgate Game Two Box Score (L, 9-2)
HAMILTON, N.Y. - Kelsey Nordstrom pitched 9.2 innings and allowed just six hits to help Colgate to a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell Saturday afternoon at Eaton Street Field. The Bison lost the first game 4-2 despite three hits from Sherry Finkel (Morgantown, W. Va./University) and dropped the second 9-2 with Kristin Frick (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) gathering three of Bucknell's eight hits.
With the two losses the Bison (15-32-1, 7-11 Patriot League) must now sweep Sunday's twinbill from Colgate to qualify for their third Patriot League Tournament in four years. Two wins Sunday would help Bucknell finish tied with Army for the fourth, and final, postseason berth. The Bison would win the tiebreaker due to winning three of four games against the Black Knights last month. Colgate clinched the second seed in the tournament as it improved to 21-22 and 11-5 in the Patriot League.
In game one, Finkel had three of Bucknell's four hits, including a solo home run, her second of the year, in the third that staked the Bison to a 2-0 lead. She had scored the first run of the contest one inning earlier when Monica Grinage (Rankin, Pa./Shady Side Academy) drew a bases-loaded walk from Nordstrom, who yielded six walks in the contest.
Colgate scored all four of its runs in the fourth inning as it batted around against Bison starter Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley). Erin Gomez, Tiana Tyeskey and Meg Mylan each recorded RBI singles, with Mylan's driving in two.
Outside of that fourth inning Wiest allowed just four baserunners as the Raiders accumulated just six hits in the game, including four in that fourth inning. Wiest, who fell to 9-15 with the loss, struck out one and walked one as she equaled the Bucknell record for appearances with 29.
Nordstrom struck out seven in the game and picked up her 12th win of the season against seven losses.
Game two was a low-scoring affair until Colgate plated eight runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The Bison led 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, but the Raiders tallied five runs and knocked starter Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) (4-6) from the game. The big blow in the frame was a three-run triple from Kortney Hannah off reliever Meg Muirhead (Glendale, Calif./Flintridge Academy).
In the sixth, Colgate scored one run on a single by Vicky Ortengren and a pair on two errors by the Bison.
Frick, who was just a home run shy of the cycle, knocked in the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth with a single to center. Frick had scored the tying run the previous inning on a single to left by Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover).
The Raiders got on the board first with one run in the second. Whitney Scott, who was 3-for-4 with one run and two runs batted in, singled up the middle to score LaPorscha Albert. Albert scored a pair of runs in the contest as she drew two walks and was hit by a pitch.
Jesse McCarrick pitched the first 4.1 innings for Colgate and gave up six hits and two runs, didn't walk a batter and struck out two. Nordstrom pitched the final 2.2 innings to pick up her second win of the day as the Bison managed just two hits against her.
McDonald lasted two outs into the fifth and gave up eight hits and five runs while walking three and striking out three. Muirhead pitched 1.1 innings of relief and yielded the final four runs, just two of which were earned.
Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) was the only other Bucknell player outside of Finkel and Frick to record multiple hits in a game with a 2-for-3 showing in game two. She now has 55 hits on the season, the third-best mark in Bison history.
Bucknell and Colgate will complete their four-game series with a doubleheader Sunday at 12 p.m. The Bison need to win both games for a Patriot League Tournament berth. The postseason tournament will run Thursday, May 10, through Saturday, May 12, at Lehigh.
