Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Plays Host to Penn State Behrend and Navy this Week
4/16/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Coming off a key 3-1 Patriot League series win against Holy Cross at Depew Field last weekend, the Bucknell baseball team will look to keep things going with five more home games on the docket for this week. The Bison will play host to Penn State Behrend on Thursday, Apr. 17, at 3:30 p.m., and PL foe Navy comes to Lewisburg to take on the Orange and Blue in a crucial four-game set this Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 19-20. The Bison are currently tied for first in the Patriot League standings with a record of 7-5 and sit at 17-16-2 overall. An audio broadcast of Sunday's doubleheader versus the Mids, which begins at noon, will be available by clicking here.
BISON BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
About Penn State Behrend
- Current Record: 20-5 (10-0 AMCC)
- All-Time Series: First meeting
- Dustin Dubensky leads the Lions with a .408 batting average and has 16 doubles, 20 runs scored and 26 RBI. Ben Cain is 3-0 on the mound and has not given up a run in 17.1 innings of work. David Koerbel is 5-1 with a 2.15 ERA in 37.2 innings of work and has logged a team-high 46 strikeouts.
- Former Bison outfielder Brian Hirschberg who graduated from Bucknell in 2004 is in his second season as an assistant coach for Penn State Behrend.
About Navy
- Current Record: 21-18 (6-6 PL)
- All-Time Series: Began in 1904, Navy leads 54-41
- Last season, Bucknell and Navy split the season series, 2-2, in Annapolis, Md. Current seniors Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) and Mathew Wilson (Toronto, Ontario/Northern S.S.) both pitched complete game shutouts for the Bison, Buursma's marked his first collegiate start on the mound.
- Jonathan Wright paces the offense for the Midshipmen with a .378 batting average and has 12 doubles, 27 runs scored and 30 RBI. Thomas Hamilton follows, hitting .372 with 26 runs scored and 31 RBI.
- Reliever Drew Carlson owns the squad's best ERA, 0.78, in 23 innings and is 2-0 with 15 strikeouts.
Probable Pitching Matchups for Series vs. Navy
- Game 1: RHP Jason Buursma (5-1, 3.48 ERA) vs. RHP Oliver Drake (4-3, 4.25 ERA)
- Game 2: LHP Eric Jarrett (4-3, 3.54 ERA) vs. RHP Mark McCoy (4-2, 3.91 ERA)
- Game 3: RHP Mathew Wilson (2-1, 4.26 ERA) vs. RHP Mitch Harris (1-1, 1.88 ERA) or LHP Yale Eckert (4.91 ERA)
- Game 4: RHP Dylan Seeley (2-1, 2.95 ERA) vs. Harris or Eckert
Short Hops
- The Bison are tied with Holy Cross and Army atop the Patriot League standings with a record of 7-5. Bucknell holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over both teams, however, after winning both series against the Crusaders and the Black Knights by a 3-1 margin. Sitting one game back are Navy and Lafayette at 6-6. The Leopards took the series with the Bison three games to one.
- Bucknell is 7-1 on Depew Field thus far and has outscored its opponents 74-32 in Lewisburg, hitting .378 as a squad with a staff ERA of 3.88.
- As of the last Patriot League statistical report, the Bison led the league in virtually every offensive category including: batting average, slugging percentage, hits, home runs and RBI.
- Ten different players have hit home runs for the Orange and Blue thus far this season. In total, the Bison have combined for 30 homers, the most by a Bucknell team since the squad finished the season with 46 in 2000 (47 games).
- With its most recent victory, Bucknell surpassed its 2007 win total and is one away from matching its league wins total of last season. The Bison finished with a record of 16-24 (8-12 PL) last season.
The Bison Briefly
- Buursma is hitting a team-best .418 (38-for-91) on the year and saw his 15 game hitting streak end last Sunday against Holy Cross. The streak was not only the longest of Buursma's career, but was the longest since Kevin Eiben hit safely in 15 straight in 1999. Buursma, who has 23 runs scored and 24 RBI, began the week leading the league in batting average, slugging percentage (.747) and tied with teammate John Avanzino (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) with a league-best nine home runs.
- Avanzino is batting .347 and is tied with sophomore Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) for the team lead in doubles with eight and paces the squad with 29 RBI and has scored 19 runs as well.
- Senior Mark Angelo (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) as a squad-best 45 hits on the year and is batting .346. He has scored 23 runs, driven in 26 and has five doubles and two home runs.
- Junior Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) is among the league leaders in stolen bases with nine. He is batting .328 with 40 hits, 22 runs scored, seven doubles three home runs and 20 RBI.
- Sophomore Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) has scored a team-high 27 runs and is hitting .308 on the season with six doubles, one home run and 16 RBI.
- Senior Shawn Hirsch (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) has thrown out 11 of 25 runners on the basepaths thus far and has three pickoffs to his credit. He is hitting .309 (25-for-81) as well.
- Freshman Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) holds a squad-best 2.95 ERA in 39.2 innings of work. He is 2-1 in six starts, pitching two complete games in the first two weekends of the PL season.
- In addition to his stellar performance at the plate this season, Buursma leads the Patriot League wins (5) and strikeouts with 55 and averages 9.11 per nine innings. He has walked just eight batters in 54.1 innings of work and has held opponents to a .258 batting average.
- Freshman Eric Jarrett (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) ranks second on the squad in wins as he is 4-3. He holds a 3.54 ERA and has fanned 31 batters in 53.1 innings of work.
- Wilson is 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA and has struck out an eye-popping 35 batters in just 25.1 innings with only five walks. He is the reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the week following his complete game shutout versus Holy Cross last Sunday. Wilson struck out a career high 11 batters in the seven-innings contest, the most by a Bison since Eric Junge fanned 11 in a game in 1999.
Recapping the Weekend Against Holy Cross
- Buursma tied a career high with nine strikeouts as the Bucknell logged an 8-4 victory over Holy Cross in game one, last Saturday but his 3-for-4 performance at the plate was not enough in game two as the Bison fell to the Crusaders, 8-0. The Bison opened game one with a 3-0 lead. In the top of the fourth, the Crusaders managed to get on the board to pull within two. Bucknell took the run back in the fifth as Brouse ripped his seventh double of the season to left center and, after Hirsch drew a walk, Senior Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) plated Brouse with an RBI single. Holy Cross once again made it a two-run ballgame in the sixth, managing to eke out a run against Buursma, who posted three strikeouts in the frame. The Bison broke the game open with four runs on five hits in their next turn at-bat. In the top of the seventh, the Crusaders scored the final run of the contest, bringing the score to 8-4. Buursma picked up his fifth win (5-1) of the season for the Orange and Blue, throwing all seven innings and allowing four runs on 11 hits with one walk and nine strikeouts. All nine Bucknell batters contributed to the team's total of 12 hits. In game two the Bison offense couldn't quite manage to get things going, however, as the team was held scoreless for just the second time in 33 games this season. The Crusaders began with a three-run first and never looked back. A two-out solo home run by Gil Gomez in the third brought the score to 4-0, while RBI singles by Brendan McCrea in the fourth and Matt Perry in the fifth added two more to Holy Cross' total. Perry collected another RBI single in the seventh before Nick Ciardello capped off the scoring with a homer to left field in the top of the ninth. Bucknell's powerful offense was held to just five hits, all singles. Three of the base knocks came off the bat of Buursma, who finished game two with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Jarrett started for the Bison and took the loss (4-3), allowing six runs, five earned, on nine hits with three walks and two strikeouts over five innings on the mound.
- Bucknell rode clutch performances by Wilson and sophomore Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) to a doubleheader sweep of Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon on Depew Field. Wilson fanned 11 batters in a complete game shutout effort as the Bison defeated the Crusaders, 3-0, in game one, while Yoder registered a walk off single in the bottom of the ninth in game two, leading the Orange and Blue to a 7-6 victory in that contest. In his first outing in nearly a month, Wilson opened game one by striking out the side, stranding two Holy Cross base runners, who recorded two of the team's four hits in the contest in the top of the first. The right-handed hurler then followed up by fanning all three batters he faced in the second. The Bison got on the board in their next turn at-bat as Avanzino led off with his ninth home run of the season. Bucknell later added two more insurance runs in the sixth. Wilson scattered just four hits over seven innings of work to pick up the win (2-1), with one walk and a career-high 11 strikeouts. The Crusaders began game two with a run on two hits in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the frame, however, the Bison promptly took the run back with a solo shot by Yoder, his first career home run. Bucknell then went on top, 3-1 in the second. Holy Cross responded with a three-run third to pull in front by a 4-3 margin. Bucknell managed to tie things up at four in the bottom of the fifth as Brouse doubled and came home on a fielder's choice, with Yoder picking up the RBI on the play. The Orange and Blue then went ahead on a sacrifice fly by Allen in the seventh that scored Hirsch. In the top of the eighth, the Crusaders fought back to even the score at five and added another in the ninth for a 6-5 advantage. The Bison rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth to take game two by a 7-6 margin. Allen and Yoder recorded the game-tying and game-winning singles. In relief of Seeley, senior David Solan (Newark, Del./Newark) recorded the victory (1-2), tossing 1.1 innings for the Orange and Blue and allowing one run on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Brouse finished a team-best 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored for Bucknell in game two, while Allen went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored and Yoder hit 2-for-5, drove in three and scored once.
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 tied for seventh in hits (159), is seventh in total bases (262), and is ninth in triples (9). He also holds the school record for saves (third in PL history) with 15 and is tied for second in appearances (63).
- With his shutout against Holy Cross, Wilson tied the program career record, four, held by Kurt Waldner (1990-93).
- Buursma and Avanzino have both entered Bucknell's single season home run top-10 list as Buursma as the duo is tied for fourth with nine.
- 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 Selected as Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Finalist
- Buursma has been selected as one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the baseball division, it was announced this Wednesday. 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. Last month, Buursma and Wilson were originally selected as two of 30 candidates for the award. Buursma and the nine other finalists chosen from that group will now be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award ballot for a nationwide vote. From April 16-June 2, fans will be able to vote via the award's web site, www.seniorclassaward.com. Those results, combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors, will determine the award recipient. Buursma becomes the second Bison student-athlete to be named a finalist for this honor as 2007 graduate Ryan Gryskevicz was a finalist for the inaugural award last spring and was named an All-Senior All-American. Bucknell and Oklahoma are the two schools in the nation to have finalists on the ballot both years the award has been presented.
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), John Avanzino (3/31)
- Patriot League Pitcher of the Week: Eric Jarrett (3/11), Jason Buursma (3/17), Mathew Wilson (4/14)
- College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup: John Avanzino (4/2/08)
- ECAC Division I Player of the Week: John Avanzino (4/2/08)
- Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week: Jason Buursma (3/24), John Avanzino (3/31), Mathew Wilson (4/14)
Next Up
- In the final week of the regular season, the Bison will travel to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, Apr. 23, for a 3 p.m. game before playing host to Lehigh in a four-game PL series on Depew Field, Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 26-27.
