Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Slated to Begin Home Schedule this Week
3/17/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 17, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After coming up short against some tough competition last week in Bradenton, Fla., the Bucknell baseball team will look to get back on track as the squad has five games on the docket for this week, beginning with its home opener versus Niagara, slated for Tuesday, Mar. 18, at 3:30 p.m. on Depew Field. The Bison, who are currently 5-7-2, will be looking to snap a five game skid after getting out to a 5-2-2 start to the year.
BISON BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Weekly Schedule
- 3/18: Home vs. Niagara (3:30 p.m.)
- 3/20: Home vs. Mount St. Mary's (3:30 p.m.)
- 3/22: vs. Long Island at Delaware St. (2:30 p.m.)
- 3/23: at Delaware State (DH) (11 a.m.)
Series History
- Niagara (currently 7-6) - Bucknell leads series: 4-1 - Series began: 1906 - Last meeting: 1998.
- Mount St. Mary's (0-9) - Bucknell leads series: 20-15 - Series began: 1898 - Last meeting: 2007.
- Long Island (1-11) - First meeting.
- Delaware State (2-13) - First meeting.
The Bison Briefly
- Senior Mark Angelo (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) leads the team and the Patriot League with a .460 batting average. Angelo, who is just five hits shy of surpassing his 2007 season total, has driven in a team-best 11 runs on 23 hits with nine runs scored, five doubles and one triple. He has matched his single game career high of three hits on five occasions this season.
- Junior Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) is among the league leaders with a team-best 14 runs scored on the year. Grandizio has 18 hits in 53 at-bats for a .340 average, while recording four doubles, one triple, two home runs and seven RBI.
- Freshmen Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) and Eric Jarrett (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) boast the team's top two earned run averages. Seeley, through 8.2 innings pitched, holds a 2.08 ERA, while Jarrett has a 2.49 ERA over 21.2 innings, holds a record of 2-2 and has struck out 15 batters.
- Senior Mathew Wilson (Toronto, Ontario/Northern S.S.) is among the Patriot League leaders in strikeouts with a team-high 24, for an average of 11.78 per game. Wilson also boasts an impressive 6-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.
Entering the Bison Record Book
- With a team-best four home runs on the season, senior Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) has broken into the top-10 in program history for career home runs as he is currently 10th with 15.
- Sophomore Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) posted three doubles on Mar. 12 versus Illinois State to tie a school single game record set by Pete Gorski against William & Mary in 1996.
- Bucknell set a team record for doubles in a game with eight against IPFW on Mar. 9, surpassing the previous record of seven, which was set twice--versus Rochester in 1975 and against Lehigh in 1990.
Buursma and Wilson Named Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Candidates
- Buursma and Wilson were recently named to a list of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the baseball division. The honor will be presented in June to the top senior student-athlete in collegiate baseball who demonstrates the qualities both on and off the field of what it means to be a complete student-athlete, with specific attention paid to achievements in the classroom and community. Buursma and Wilson are the second and third Bison student-athletes to be nominees for the accolade as 2007 graduate Ryan Gryskevicz was a finalist for the inaugural award last spring and was named an All-Senior All-American. Bucknell is one of only two schools in the nation with two candidates for the award, along with Creighton. A list of 10 finalists will be announced in April.
What a Difference a Year Makes
- The Bison offense has nine of 10 starters returning from 2007 and, despite the similar look to the lineup, the increase in production has been striking. Through 14 games, the team has scored 99 runs, on 159 hits with 40 doubles and 12 home runs. It took Bucknell exactly 22 games to score 99 runs last season, while hitting six homers the entire year (40 games).
Tying? There's No Tying in Baseball
- The Bison have seen two games end in ties this season after being called due to darkness, matching the most ties ever by a Bucknell squad as the Orange and Blue went 8-14-2 in 1964. Bucknell's 14-inning 7-7 tie against Eastern Kentucky was the longest game in the tenure of head coach Gene Depew. The last time the Bison played a contest that lasted longer than 14 innings was a 15 inning marathon on May 16, 1975, which the Bison won over Temple, 5-4. Prior to this season, the team had last recorded a tie in 1997 (8-8 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson).
Spring Break Recap
- The Bison went 2-5 on their spring break trip to Bradenton, Fla., last week, posting wins over IPFW and Eastern Kentucky.
- With the help of a school record eight doubles, the Bucknell cruised to an 8-3 win over IPFW on Mar. 9, which extended the Bison's unbeaten streak to five straight. Jarrett started for the Orange and Blue and picked up the win, tossing eight shutout innings and holding the Mastodons to just three hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Jarrett was later recognized as the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week for his performance. Six Bison batters posted two-hit outings, led by senior Austin Turban (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) who finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored.
- Sophomore John Avanzino (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) racked up six RBI to help lead Bucknell to an 8-1 win over Eastern Kentucky on Mar 10. Buursma held the Colonels to just one run on seven hits as he went the distance for the Bison to pick up the win in the longest outing of his career. In nine innings, Buursma struck out six and walked one. He was later recognized as the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 17. Avanzino paced Bucknell's offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, six RBI and one run scored. Grandizio hit 3-for-4, as well, with a double, three runs scored and one RBI.
- A home run by Buursma began a three-run eighth inning, but the rally was not enough as Bucknell fell to Eastern Illinois, 9-6, on Mar. 11. Turban, Buursma and junior Zachary Brown (Stroudsburg, Pa./Notre Dame) all finished with two hits apiece for the Bison, Buursma going 2-for-2 with a home run an RBI and a run scored, while Turban scored twice.
- Brouse matched a school record with three doubles, but it was not enough as Bucknell dropped a 13-6 decision to Illinois State on Mar. 12. Angelo and Brouse paced the Bison hitters, both 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI apiece, while Angelo scored twice and was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Buursma finished 2-for-4 with a home run, an RBI and two runs scored.
- Seeley had a solid first collegiate start on the mound for the Orange and Blue, but saw it spoiled by the Catamounts as Bucknell fell to Vermont, 9-7, on Mar. 13. Seeley started for the Bison, but did not earn a decision in the contest despite allowing only two runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts over six innings of work. Angelo and Grandizio led Bucknell at the plate, batting 3-for-4, while Angelo drove in three and Grandizio scored three. Brouse went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
- After falling down 4-0, Bucknell rallied to score three unanswered runs, but could not complete the comeback, dropping a 4-3 decision to Akron on Mar. 14. For the 12th time in 13 games to begin the season, the Bison offense reached double figures in hits, led by Buursma (2-for-5), Angelo (3-for-2) and Avanzino (2-for-4).
- Saturday in the Bison's final game of their weeklong Spring Break trip to Florida, Eastern Illinois broke open a one-run game with two runs in the bottom of the third and five more in the fifth en route to a 13-4 defeat of Bucknell on Mar. 15. Sophomore Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Orange and Blue, who managed eight hits in the game.
Patriot League Preseason Poll
- Bucknell was tabbed fourth in the Patriot League Preseason poll, which was announced on Feb. 20. The Bison, who finished with a record of 16-24 last season (8-12 PL) picked up 29 points and two first-place votes, while Navy was first (43 points, four first-place votes), Lafayette second (42 points, four first-place votes) and Army third (37 points, two first-place votes).
- The Patriot League tournament has a new format beginning in 2008 as it will move from a three-team one weekend event to a four-team field with best-of-three semifinals and championship series played on back-to-back weekends, May 10-11 and May 16-17, at the home fields of the higher seeds.
Watch Lists
- Two of Bucknell's three senior co-captains have earned national preseason recognition. Buursma was named to the National Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award watch list for a second consecutive year. The award, which was first presented in 2005, is given annually to the top relief pitcher in Division I baseball.
- Wilson was one of three Patriot League players to make the preseason cut for the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award watch list and, most recently, was named a candidate for the Roger Clemens Award. Buursma and Wilson finished one-two in the Patriot League in ERA in 2007 at 1.65 and 1.78, respectively. Wilson's innings qualified him for the national leaders, where he finished ranked eighth in Division I in ERA.
Bison Honors
- Patriot League Player of the Week: Dane Grandizio (3/4/08)
- Patriot League Pitcher of the Week: Eric Jarrett (3/11/08), Jason Buursma (3/17/08)
Next Up
- The Bison are slated to host midweek games against Clarion and Susquehanna next Tuesday and Wednesday, Mar. 25 and 26, before opening Patriot League play on Mar. 29 at Army.
