Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Prepares for Opening Weekend of League Play with Home Games Against Clarion and Susquehanna
3/24/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 24, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell baseball team will prepare to open Patriot League play on the road this Saturday and Sunday with three midweek home contests as the squad is set to play a doubleheader against Clarion on Tuesday, Mar. 25, beginning at 2 p.m., followed by a single game versus Susquehanna on Wednesday, Mar. 26, at 4 p.m. on Depew Field. Coming off a 2-2 week, the Bison are currently 7-9-2 on the season.
BISON BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Series History
- Clarion (currently 6-0) - First meeting.
- Susquehanna (currently 7-6) - Bucknell leads series: 94-32 - Series began: 1897 - Last meeting: 2007 (10-3, Bucknell).
The Bison Briefly
- Senior Mark Angelo (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) leads the team and the Patriot League with a .418 batting average. In 18 games thus far (67 at-bats), Angelo has surpassed his hit total from 2007, with a new career high of 28. He has also matched his career-high in RBI with 13 and is currently tied for the team lead in that category. In addition, Angelo has scored 11 runs and has five doubles and one triple on the year.
- Senior Shawn Hirsch (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) follows with a .395 batting average and is tied for the team lead in RBI with 13. Hirsch has a career-best five doubles on the season and currently boasts the team's longest active hitting streak at six games.
- Junior Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) is among the league leaders with a team-high of 16 runs scored on the year. The Bison centerfielder is batting .329 with 23 hits in 70 at-bats, four doubles, one triple and three home runs. He leads the team in stolen bases and is 4-for-5 on the basepaths.
- Senor Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) is hitting .386 (17-for-44), has scored 14 runs and has driven in 12. He boasts a Patriot League-best five home runs along with two doubles for a team-leading .773 slugging percentage. Buursma has helped head up the Bison pitching staff as well, as he is 3-0 with a 3.78 ERA and has logged a squad-best 28 strikeouts in 33.1 innings.
- Freshman Eric Jarrett (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) holds the third-lowest, ERA in the Patriot League, pacing Bucknell's pitching staff at 2.76 in 29.1 innings of work. Jarrett is 2-2 and has held opponents to a .223 batting average on the year.
Rundown of Last Week
- The Bison opened their 2008 home schedule last Thursday, Mar. 20, with a 4-3 win over Mount St. Mary's in extra innings. After falling down 3-0 in the first, Bucknell responded with two in the second and later tied the score at three in the bottom of the ninth as Hirsch plated Buursma with a sacrifice fly. Buursma later drove in the winning run in the 10th with a bases loaded walk and also collected the win on the mound, pitching 2.1 hitless innings of relief.
- Bucknell tallied 12 hits, but managed to score just four runs after leaving 13 runners on base as the squad fell to Long Island, 6-4, on Delaware State's Soldier Field on Saturday, Mar. 22. The Bison threatened to make a comeback in the ninth as Buursma and senior Austin Turban (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) both reached base to start the inning, but John Slootmaker came in for Long Island and retired the next three Bucknell hitters in order to pick up the save. Four batters combined for eight of the Orange and Blue's 12 hits as Buursma was 2-for-3, sophomore John Avanzino (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) and senior Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) both hit 2-for-4 and Hirsch went 2-for-5 at the plate.
- A home run and a total of five RBI by Grandizio helped Bucknell take game two of a doubleheader at Delaware State, 10-7 in eight innings, after dropping game one, 12-5 on Sunday, Mar. 23. Over the two games, Grandizio led the Orange and Blue at the plate, going 4-for-8 with six RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) was 3-for-6 with four runs scored and Buursma finished the day 3-for-8 at the plate with three runs scored and three RBI. In game two, Bucknell jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two turns at-bat with four in the first and one in the second. Delaware State pulled to within one with two homers in the second inning. Then in the third, the Hornets tied the score at five with another home run. The Bison went back on top in the fourth, scoring twice, but in the bottom of the sixth, Delaware State crept back to within one with a home run by Jose Sanchez and tied it to force extra innings with a run on two hits in the seventh. Down to their last out, the Hornets extended the contest with an RBI single up the middle by Jarrett Bibb. Bucknell promptly re-took the lead in the top of the eighth. After junior Andrew Loucks (Mississauga, Ontario/Appleby College) singled and Yoder was hit by a pitch, Grandizio blasted a home run, his third of the season, putting the Bison back on top, 10-7. Buursma tossed five innings of relief to collect the victory (3-0) in game two. He allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
- Delaware State used four home runs to power to a game one victory, starting with a solo shot in the first by Jose Portela. With one out in the second, Ryne Scheiwe began an eight run-second for the Hornets with a homer to left. Chris Kidd later capped off the frame with a three-run drive. Trailing 9-0, the Orange and Blue responded with three runs in the top of the third and added another run with two down in the fifth. Then in the sixth, Bucknell saw the first two hitters of the frame reach base. Grandizio singled to left to bring home Rubbo, but that would be all for the Bison, who stranded nine runners in game one. Delaware State added three more runs in the sixth on a home run by Sanchez, his first of two on the day, to bring the final score to 12-5.
Entering the Bison Record Book
- Buursma is climbing the ranks in the Bucknell record book as he has recently moved into a tie for ninth in career home runs (16), is 10th in career RBI (88) and 10th in total bases (228), while also ranking ninth in triples (9). His career ERA of 2.26 is now second in both the Bison's and Patriot League's top-10 all-time, while his average of 2.74 walks per-nine innings is fifth-lowest in school history and his strikeouts per-nine innings ranks seventh (7.33). He also holds the school record for saves (second in PL history) with 15 and is tied for third in appearances (59).
- 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 senior Mathew Wilson (Toronto, Ontario/Northern S.S.) 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.
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)
- Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week: Jason Buursma (3/24/08)
Next Up
- Bucknell will open Patriot League play with a series at Army in West Point, N.Y., this Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 29-30. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at noon, while Sunday's will start at 1 p.m.
