Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Softball Opens Patriot League Tournament Thursday
5/7/2008 8:00:00 AM | Softball
May 7, 2008
What: Bucknell (22-27, 13-7 PL) vs. Lafayette (24-22, 13-7 PL)
When: Thursday, May 8, 4 p.m.
Where: Kaufman Field, Bethlehem, Pa.
Internet Audio: SportsJuice.com
Game Notes in PDF Format
Coming off a regular season in which it won 22 games and finished in a tie for second place in the Patriot League standings, the Bucknell softball team will open Patriot League Tournament play Thursday at 4 p.m. against Lafayette at Lehigh's Kaufman Field. The three-day, double-elimination tournament will run through Saturday.
2008 Patriot League Softball Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: No. 1 Lehigh vs. No. 4 Army, 2 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Lafayette vs. No. 3 Bucknell, 4 p.m.
Friday, May 9
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 10
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 12 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)
GAME NOTES
Bucknell in Patriot League Tournament
Bucknell is making its 13th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament, but just its sixth since the format moved away from a full-field championship in 1998. The last time the Bison qualified for the Patriot League Tournament was in 2005, while this is just their third postseason appearance since the regular-season schedule expanded to 20 games in 2001. Overall, Bucknell is 18-23 in Patriot League Tournament play, but is just 2-10 since winning the 1997 title.
Bucknell vs. 2008 Patriot League Tournament Opponents
Bucknell is a combined 110-126-1 against its three possible opponents in the Patriot League Tournament. The Bison are 53-29-1 against Lafayette, but are just 4-8 against the Leopards over the last three years. Bucknell sports a 31-60 all-time mark against Lehigh, its most common opponent. The Bison did post their first regular-season win over the Mountain Hawks since 2001 last month, but are just 2-32 over the last 34 meetings with Lehigh. Bucknell is 26-37 in 63 all-time games with Army and has taken three of four from the Black Knights each of the last two years.
Second-Place Bucknell
Bucknell finished tied for second in the final Patriot League standings with Lafayette, but lost the tiebreaker to the Leopards to end up with the third seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The two teams split their regular-season meetings, but Lafayette had a better record against first-place Lehigh to earn the second seed. By finishing in a tie for second place, the Bison had their best regular-season showing in the standings since 1999 when they finished in a four-way tie for first place with Lehigh, Colgate and Holy Cross.
All-Patriot League
Bucknell had six players selected to the All-Patriot League teams earlier this week, tying Lafayette for the most in the league. The Bison had four first-team selections, their most since placing five on the first team in 1993. Additionally, the six overall selections were the most for Bucknell since 1998 and trailed only the eight players the 1995 squad had honored. Freshmen Elyse Colmenero and Lauren Fry, along with junior Cassie Lloyd and senior co-captain Christie Wiest were the first-team selections. Senior co-captain Erin Curatola and sophomore Mary Pavlovich were the two second-team choices. It was the first career All-Patriot League honor for each of the six Bison.
Patriot League Major Awards
Bucknell earned two of the four major awards from the Patriot League on Wednesday. Freshman Lauren Fry was the first Bison player to earn Rookie of the Year honors, while fourth-year head coach Heather Rakosik copped her first Patriot League Coach of the Year award. She is the third different Bison coach to earn the honor, joining Terrie Grieb and Janelle Breneman.
Streaking Seniors
Christie Wiest and Erin Curatola each brings impressive individual streaks into the postseason. Wiest has not allowed a run in her last 14.2 innings of work (1.0 IP shy of career high) and has won her last four decisions, while Curatola has appeared in 111 consecutive games. She already holds the program record for games played with 179. Freshman Elyse Colmenero, who had at least one hit in all 20 Patriot League regular-season games, enters the postseason with an eight-game hitting streak, two shy of her season high.
Team Accomplishments
Bucknell has posted one of its best seasons in recent memory. The Bison's 22 victories are their most since going 27-8 in 1993 and are the fourth-most in program history. In fact, it is just the seventh 20-win season in the 30 years the Bucknell softball program has existed. Additionally, the Bison posted a 13-7 record during Patriot League play, marking their highest conference victory total. It was also the first time they finished above .500 in league play since 1999.
Team Records
Bucknell set team records for home runs (21), runs scored (238) and runs batted in (199) during the regular season.
Six-Game Winning Streak
Bucknell ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak, its longest of the season. The last time the Bison posted a longer streak was 2005 when it reeled off eight wins in a row against Colgate, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Holy Cross.
Tight Patriot League Standings
Bucknell finished just one game out of first place in the final Patriot League standings, an unprecedented accomplishment in a conference where Lehigh has posted at least three more victories than any other team in six of the last seven years. Just nine wins separated the first-place Mountain Hawks from last-place Holy Cross, marking the tightest final Patriot League standings since the league schedule expanded to 20 games in 2001.
Home Record
Bucknell posted an impressive 13-6 record at home this year, equaling the 1991 squad for the most home victories in program history. The Bison won their final six home games to post double-digit home victories for the eighth time.
March 22
Bucknell played its first 18 games this season on the road and was 3-15 heading into its first home doubleheader of the season on March 22 against Coppin State. The Bison swept the Eagles by 20-0 and 17-0 scores and proceeded to go 19-12 over their final 31 games of the regular season.
Youth Movement
Bucknell's offense has been led by the youngsters on the team. Among the top four hitters on the squad, two are freshmen, one is a sophomore and one is a junior. Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 207 of the team's 384 hits (53.9%).
Experienced Pitching
While underclassmen have bolstered the Bison offensive attack this year, veterans Christie Wiest and Katie McDonald have anchored the pitching staff, totaling 287.1 of the team's 320.1 innings. The two right-handers have started 45 of the 49 games and their 21 combined wins are the most by a Bison duo since Heidi Dawson and Allison Love combined for 26 victories in 1993.
Late-Inning Success
Freshman Lauren Fry has come up big in late-inning situations this year. She is hitting a combined 15-for-26 (.577) with 10 runs batted in and eight runs scored in the sixth and seventh innings.
Piling up RBIs
Erin Curatola leads the Bison, and ranks fourth in the Patriot League, in runs batted in this season with a career-high 32. That figure puts her sixth on the Bucknell single-season list and has helped her increase her career total to 70, which is tied for 10th in the Bison record books with Kris Devore. Lauren Fry has joined Curatola in the 30-RBI club and ranks second on the squad with 30 RBIs. She is one away from equaliing Jenna Demetriades for the program's freshman record and she ranks 10th on the single-season ledger.
Record-Breaking Senior
Christie Wiest, Bucknell's No. 1 pitcher each of the last four years, has etched her named into the Bucknell record books in a number of categories this season. She is among the program's career leaders in games (1st, 114), games started (1st, 91), wins (5th, 32), shutouts (4th, 9), saves (t-1st, 3), innings pitched (1st, 544.2) and strikeouts (1st, 354).
On the single-season ledger, she is among the top-10 in games (t-2nd, 29), games started (2nd, 26), wins (t-5th, 12), shutouts (t-7th, 4), innings pitched (1st, 165.2) and strikeouts (6th, 96).
Milestones
Bucknell has had such a solid season in 2008 that it has posted a lower ERA than its opponents (3.17 to 3.75) for the first time since 1999 and it is the first time it has had a batting average equal to or better than its opponents since 2001 when it hit .259 compared to .254 for the opposition. The .291 batting average the Bison sport is their highest since 1999 and is the fifth-best in program history.
This is also the first time since 2000 Bucknell has had at least four players with over a .300 batting average, while it is just the second time in program history nine different players have each driven in at least 10 runs.
Up Next
The winner of the Patriot League Tournament earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Bison last won the Patriot League Tournament in 1997, but then lost to Brown in an NCAA Tournament play-in game. This year's NCAA Tournament regionals are slated for May 16-18.
