Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Begins Stretch of Nine Straight Home Games with Weekend Series Against Holy Cross
4/11/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After playing 27 of its first 31 games on the road, the Bucknell baseball team will close out the regular season with 13 of its final 14 contests at home on Depew field, beginning with a four game series against Holy Cross this Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 12-13. The Bison enter the weekend with a record of 14-15-2 and are tied for third in the Patriot League standings with a record of 4-4 in league play. An audio broadcast of Saturday's doubleheader, which begins at noon, will be available by clicking here.
BISON BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
About the Opponent
- Holy Cross is currently 13-16 on the season and is tied with Navy for first in the league standings with a record of 6-2. The Crusaders opened PL play with a four-game sweep of Lehigh and followed up by splitting a series with Army last weekend. The team has posted a 9-3 record over its last 12 games.
- Brendan Akashian paces Holy Cross with a .345 batting average (30-for-87) and has 13 runs scored, six doubles and 23 RBI. As a team, the Crusaders are hitting .251.
- Matt Shapiro holds a team-best 4.10 earned run average and has posted shutouts in his first two Patriot League starts (1-0 vs. Lehigh, 9-0 vs. Army). As a group, the Holy Cross pitching staff has a 7.10 ERA.
Against Holy Cross
- In a series that began in 1991, Bucknell leads Holy Cross, 37-26. Last season, the Crusaders took three of four games from the Bison in Worcester, Mass., while it was Bucknell who won the series last time Holy Cross came to Lewisburg, 3-1.
Short Hops
- The Bison opened Patriot League play with a 3-1 series victory at Army before dropping their series at Lafayette, 1-3. Bucknell is now 4-4 in the PL and has completed the road portion of its league schedule, with home series against Holy Cross, Navy and Lehigh left on the docket.
- Bucknell is 4-0 on Depew Field thus far and has outscored its opponents 56-14 in Lewisburg, hitting .442 as a squad.
- As of the last Patriot League statistical report, the Bison led the league in virtually every offensive category including: batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks.
- Nine different players have hit home runs for the Orange and Blue thus far this season. In total, the Bison have combined for 28 homers, the most by a Bucknell team since the squad finished the season with 46 in 2000 (47 games).
The Bison Briefly
- Senior Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) leads the Bison with a .427 batting average. He began the week leading the league in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage and on base percentage. He currently has nine home runs, 23 RBI, 23 runs scored, a .793 slugging percentage and a .489 on base percentage.
- Senior Mark Angelo (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) has already surpassed his career single season highs in hits, runs scored and RBI. Angelo has 43 hits on the season and ranks second for the Orange and Blue with a .371 batting average. He has five doubles, two home runs, 25 RBI and 21 runs scored on the year.
- Sophomore John Avanzino (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) is hitting .371 and has a team-best 27 RBI thus far. Avanzino, who began the week second in the Patriot League with eight home runs and leads the Bison with seven doubles, boasts a .719 slugging percentage and has scored 18 runs.
- Junior Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) is batting .324 on the season with 35 hits, four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 21 runs scored and 18 RBI. He leads the team in stolen bases, ranking in the top-10 in the Patriot League with eight. - Sophomore Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) leads the Bison in runs scored with 25 and is hitting .306 on the season with six doubles, one home run and 14 RBI.
- Freshman Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) began the week second in the Patriot League with a 2.25 ERA in 32.0 innings of work. He is 2-1 in five starts, pitching two complete games in the first two weekends of the PL season. Seeley posted a career high six strikeouts at Lafayette last weekend and holds a 1.06 ERA in league play.
- Freshman Eric Jarrett (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) follows Seeley with a 2.98 ERA in 48.1 innings pitched, good for fourth in the PL. Jarrett is 4-2 on the mound, which ties him for the team lead in wins and has logged 29 strikeouts.
- In addition to his stellar performance at the plate this season, Buursma leads the Patriot League in strikeouts with 46 and averages 8.75 per nine innings. He is tied for the league-best record at 4-1 in 11 appearances and has walked just seven batters in 47.1 innings of work. In his start against Lafayette, Buursma set a new career high with nine strikeouts and has held opponents to a .239 batting average on the season thus far.
Last Time Out at Towson
- Allen connected for his first career home run, but the Bucknell baseball team was outscored by Towson, 14-5, on Apr. 8 at Schuerholtz Park. Towson began the contest with a 12-0 lead, with the help of five home runs, including two by Brian Conley and a three-run shot by Greg Furmanek. The Bison managed to collect their first run of the contest in the top of the sixth. With one out, Avanzino singled up the middle, went to third on a double by junior Zachary Brown (Stroudsburg, Pa./Notre Dame) and scored on a wild pitch. However, the Tigers promptly took the run back in the bottom half of the frame. Allen hit a solo shot in the top of the seventh and the Bison went on to tally three more in the eighth. Avanzino singled up the middle for his second hit of the day, while Brown plated him with a single of his own. Sophomore Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) walked and scored on fielder's choice with senior Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) earning the RBI. Rubbo eventually came home on a wild pitch for Bucknell's final run of the contest. Towson completed the scoring in the bottom of the eighth as Nick Natoli drove in Furmanek with an RBI single. Sophomore Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School) started on the mound for the Orange and Blue and took the loss (0-2), surrendering three runs on six hits over two innings of work. Four Bison finished the contest with two hits apiece, including sophomore Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) who was 2-for-3. Allen and Brown batted 2-for-4, both contributing one RBI each.
Entering the Bison Record Book
- Buursma is climbing the ranks in the Bucknell record book as he is third in career home runs (20) and is now one shy of tying the program's career mark. He is also sixth in career RBI (99), is eighth in hits (156), is seventh in total bases (259), and is ninth in triples (9). His career ERA of 2.23 is now second in both the Bison's and Patriot League's top-10 all-time, while his average of 2.60 walks per-nine innings is fifth-lowest in school history and his strikeouts per-nine innings ranks fifth as well (7.74). He also holds the school record for saves (third in PL history) with 15 and is third in appearances (62).
- Buursma and Avanzino have both entered Bucknell's single season home run top-10 list as Buursma is tied for fourth with nine and Avanzino is tied for seventh with eight. - Brouse 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 named to a list of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the baseball division earlier this season. 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 on April 16.
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 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), John Avanzino (3/31/08)
- 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), John Avanzino (3/31/08)
- College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup: John Avanzino (4/2/08)
- ECAC Division I Player of the Week: John Avanzino (4/2/08)
Next Up
- Bucknell will continue its nine-game homestand when it plays host to Penn State Erie on Thursday, Apr. 17, at 3:30 p.m.
