Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Heads to Towson on Tuesday
4/7/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 7, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Before beginning a nine-game homestand with a series against Holy Cross this weekend, the Bucknell baseball team will break from its Patriot League schedule for a Tuesday afternoon game at Towson tomorrow, Apr. 8, at 3 p.m. The Bison enter the contest with a record of 14-14-2 and will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
BISON BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Against Towson
- Since the series began in 1980, the Bison trail the Tigers, who are currently 14-16 on the season by an 11-24 margin.
- Last season's scheduled meeting between the squads was rained out, but in 2006 in Towson, Md., Bucknell came home with a 12-5 victory as current seniors Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) and Chris Pieper (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) both hit two home runs apiece in the contest.
The Bison Briefly
- Buursma leads the Bison and the Patriot League with a .429 batting average (33-for-77), nine home runs, an .818 slugging percentage and a .494 on base percentage. He also has scored 23 runs and has driven in 23.
- 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 .384 batting average. This past weekend at Lafayette, Angelo hit his first two home runs of his career. He has a total of 21 runs scored and 25 RBI on the year.
- Sophomore John Avanzino (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) is hitting .369 and has a team-best 27 RBI thus far. Avanzino, who ranks second in the Patriot League with eight home runs and leads the Bison with seven doubles, boasts a .739 slugging percentage and has scored 16 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 24 and is hitting .298 on the season with six doubles and 13 RBI.
- Freshman Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) ranks 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 this past 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 this past weekend, Buursma set a new career high with nine strikeouts and has held opponents to a .239 batting average on the season thus far.
Recapping the Weekend at Lafayette
- On Saturday, Apr. 5, Bucknell was edged by Lafayette, 1-0, in game one, but salvaged a split in the Patriot League doubleheader by winning game two, 10-2, at Kamine Stadium. Despite a stellar pitching performance from Buursma the Orange and Blue dropped the opener, 1-0. The Leopards managed the only run of the contest in the first inning. Daniel Bierce lofted a one-out double to right field and later scored on an RBI groundout by Tom Ambrosole. Bucknell's best chance to score came in the top of the fifth with three straight singles by senior Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge), Allen and sophomore Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley). However, Lafayette hurler Kevin Reese escaped the jam with an inning-ending ground ball off the bat of Grandizio. Buursma struck out nine with no walks and surrendered one run on just three hits in a complete game effort, but was charged with his first loss of the season (4-1) and his first loss to a Patriot League opponent in 21 career appearances.
- Bucknell began game two with a 4-0 lead. In the top of the first, Grandizio reached on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt and later came in on a wild pitch. The Bison scored another in the second with senior Austin Turban (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) leading off the frame with a walk, while Rubbo plated him with an RBI groundout. Then with two out in the third, Angelo blasted a solo home run to right field and Buursma reached on an error and scored on an error. Lafayette took one of the runs back in the bottom of the third and the Leopards added their second run of the contest in the fifth to pull within 4-2. After three scoreless innings, Bucknell broke the game open with six runs on four hits in the top of the ninth. With one away in the frame, Allen singled and Yoder followed with a walk. Grandizio plated Allen with a single down the left field line for the first run of the frame, while Buursma drove in Yoder with an infield hit. With two out and the bases loaded, Turban blasted a grand slam to right field, bringing the score to 10-2. Jarrett earned the win for the Bison to improve to 4-2 on the year, allowing two runs on 12 hits with three walks and no strikeouts in eight innings of work. Grandizio and Angelo led Bucknell at the plate in game two, both going 2-for-4, each with an RBI and two runs scored.
- Bucknell fell in both of its games in a doubleheader at Lafayette on Sunday afternoon, dropping game one, 8-5, while being edged, 2-1, in the second contest. In game one, Lafayette took a 4-0 lead with its first hit of the game in the bottom of the second. After three walks to Joe Ezekiel, Jeff Butler, and Ian McCutcheon, Tom Hayes drove a pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam. The Leopards then made it 5-0 in their next turn at bat and added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Bison managed to get on the board with two down in the sixth. Angelo homered for the second time in the series, blasting a two-run shot that scored Allen. The Bison threatened to complete the comeback in the top of the seventh. Pieper singled and junior Zachary Brown (Stroudsburg, Pa./Notre Dame) hit a home run to left field. With two out, Grandizio sent an RBI single up the middle, driving in Allen, who reached with a double, but that would be all as Steve Roberts ended the threat with a ground ball to first. Sophomore Andrew Clarke (Montgomery, Texas/Montgomery) started and took the loss (0-3) for Bucknell, allowing five runs on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 2.1 innings of work. Buursma and Allen led the Bison at the plate, both going 2-for-3 in game one, while Allen scored twice, as well.
- Lafayette was first to score in game two, plating a run in the first inning. Then in the third, the Leopards increased the advantage to 2-0. Bucknell cut its deficit in half with a run in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) reached on an error, moved to second on a single by senior Shawn Hirsch (Morristown, N.J./Morristown), to third on a fly ball and scored on a wild pitch. That would be all, however, as Roberts did not allow a run in the final two innings for the Leopards and surrendered just one hit with no walks and three strikeouts to earn the save (1). Freshman Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) threw all eight innings for the Bison and took the loss (2-1). He allowed two runs, one earned, on nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Hirsch was the lone Bison to log multiple hits in game two, going 2-for-3 at the plate.
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 (154), is seventh in total bases (257), 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
- The Bison begin a stretch of nine straight home games this Saturday, Apr. 12, when the squad will play host to Holy Cross in a Patriot League doubleheader that is slated to begin at noon.
