Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Bucknell Softball Complete Four-Game Sweep of Holy Cross with 8-0 & 5-3 Wins
4/27/2008 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 27, 2008
Game 1 Box Score: Bucknell 8, Holy Cross 0 (6 in.) | Game 2 Box Score: Bucknell 5, Holy Cross 3 | Photo Gallery 
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) fired her second consecutive shutout in game one and Bucknell held off a late rally by Holy Cross in game two to complete a four-game sweep of the Crusaders Sunday afternoon at West Fields. The Bison won game one 8-0 in six innings and completed their second consecutive doubleheader sweep with a 5-3 victory in game two.
The two wins Sunday, which extended Bucknell's winning streak to a season-high six games, helped the Bison finish the regular season with a 22-27 record overall. The 22 victories are the most since the 1993 squad went 27-8. Additionally, Bucknell completed the Patriot League regular-season schedule with a 13-7 record, which is the most conference victories in program history. The Bison, who wrapped up a Patriot League Tournament berth on Saturday, will be the No. 3 seed in the four-team field. Ten-time regular-season champion Lehigh, which went 1-1 Sunday to go 14-6 in league play, will serve as the host institution for the three-day event, which runs May 8-10.
Wiest (12-12) won her fourth straight game and continued her pitching dominance from Saturday, when she hurled a three-hit shutout. Jayme Elliott was the only Crusader to record a hit off Wiest as she had singles in the first and sixth innings.
Wiest faced the minimum number of hitters one out into the sixth inning, thanks to Elliott's caught stealing in the first. Tiffany Medwid then reached when Wiest hit her in the head and Eliott later followed with a two-out single to left. However, Wiest struck out Keeley Seniuk to end the two-on, two-out threat. It was the fourth strikeout of the game for Wiest, who now has 96 this season.
The Bison scored single runs in the first and second innings, but could not get much offense going against starter Amanda Audette (4-8). After four innings, five hits and two runs, one of which was unearned, she was replaced by Katie Alexander. Alexander retired the Bison in order in the fifth, but then Bucknell touched her for six runs in the sixth to invoke the mercy rule.
Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) and Cassie Lloyd (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) opened the sixth with back-to-back singles. Lloyd's was a bunt single and she was pinch run for by Lauren Trosch (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh). Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) followed with a two-run double to right-center.
Another bunt single, this time by Kristin Frick (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan), put runners on the corners. After a popout by Ashley Carlson (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury), Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) posted an RBI single and then Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) followed with a two-run triple to right. Elyse Colmenero (Fresno, Calif./Central), who had hits in both ends of the doubleheader to extend her hitting streak to eight games, then ended the game with a single up the middle, scoring Fry with the eighth run of the game.
All nine Bison starters had at least one hit in game one with Frick's 3-for-3 performance leading the way. Jessie Snyder was 2-for-3 as the bottom two hitters in the lineup combined for five of the team's 12 hits. Frick added one more hit in the nightcap as she went 8-for-12 with four runs scored and four RBIs in the four-game series. Her batting average vaulted from .278 to a team-best .348.
Game two was the tightest game of the four-game weekend series that featured Holy Cross managing just 10 hits in the first 22 innings of play. Initially it looked as though it would be another easy Bison victory as they led 5-0 through four innings, but Holy Cross (8-29, 3-13 PL) plated two runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth. Five of its seven hits in the game came in the final three innings.
Colmenero, who is one of five Bison to have at least 20 RBIs this season, had an RBI double in the bottom of the first. Lloyd, who was 3-for-3 with one run and 3 RBI in game two and missed hitting for the cycle by only a triple, had an RBI double in the second. Snyder also scored on a wild pitch, staking starting pitcher Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) to a 3-0 lead.
In her next at-bat in the fourth inning, Lloyd hit her team-high fifth home run of the season, a towering blast over the left-field fence, to round out the scoring for Bucknell.
The Bison did threaten in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs, but was unable to push any more runs across.
Starter Natalie Cruz (1-13) pitched the first three innings and was removed after Frick led off the fourth with a triple. Cruz yielded four hits, four runs, three earned runs and two walks while striking out two. Reliever Caitlin Belanger gave up five hits and just one run during her 3.0 innings in the circle.
McDonald (9-13) pitched splendidly the first four innings as only cleanup hitter Erin Fleming managed a pair of singles up the middle. However, McDonald walked Mandy Correale to lead off the fifth and she and Courtney Nealon, who had singled up the middle and advanced to second on a passed ball, scored on a two-run single by Medwid. McDonald then retired the final two hitters in the inning, preserving Bucknell's 5-2 advantage.
A leadoff double by Seniuk hurt the Bison in the sixth as she later scored on a one-out single to center by Belanger. McDonald then settled down and retired five of the final six hitters. It was her 11th complete game of the season as she yielded seven hits and just two earned runs while striking out five.
Bucknell had nine hits in game two with Lloyd the only player to have more than one.
The Bison hit .396 and had a 0.81 ERA in the four-game series with Holy Cross. Frick's .667 average led the way, while Lloyd, Carlson and Beans also hit over .400 for the weekend. Bucknell outscored Holy Cross 26-4, including 13-3 on Sunday.
Bucknell's 13 home wins this season tied the 1991 team for the most in program history.
The Bison, who tied Lafayette for second place in the Patriot League standings, but will be the No. 3 seed in the PL Tournament due to the Leopards' better record against first-place Lehigh, will face Lafayette next Thursday, May 8, in the first round of the four-team tournament. Game times will be announced at a later date. It will be Bucknell's first postseason appearance since 2005. Army or Colgate will be the final team in the field. If the Raiders win three or more games against Holy Cross in a makeup series this week, they will earn the final berth. If not, the Black Knights will qualify for the postseason.
