Bucknell University
Florida State
Bucknell Baseball's NCAA Tournament Run Ends with 24-9 Loss to Florida State
6/1/2008 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 1, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fl. - The Bucknell baseball team saw its postseason run come to an end on Sunday afternoon as the Bison were eliminated from NCAA Regional play with a 24-9 loss to national No. 4 seed Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium. Bucknell completes the third 30-win season in program history with a record of 30-24-2, while the Seminoles will move on to play Tulane for the Tallahassee Regional championship with a record of 50-11.
After a scoreless first, Florida State struck for six runs in the top of the second on four hits. The first, Tony Delmonico scored on a sacrifice fly RBI by Tony Oravetz after drawing a one-out walk. Then with two down, the Seminoles proceeded to add five more. Tyler Holt doubled in Stuart Tapley, while Jason Stidham and Buster Posey followed with back-to-back home runs, Tapley's a three-run shot.
Bucknell responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning. With two down in the frame, Brouse sent a 2-2 pitch over the centerfield fence.
The Seminoles promptly took the run back in the top of the third, however, as Dennis Guinn led off with a double and came in on a double by Tapley in what would be a seven-run inning for FSU. Oravetz plated Delmonico with a groundout to second and Tapley came home on a double steal. Buster Posey then made it 13-1 as the National Player of the Year hit a grand slam for his second home run of the game.
FSU followed up with three more in the top of the fourth with the help of a three-run home run by Danesh.
Bucknell plated three runs of its own in its next turn at bat. Three straight one-out hits by senior Austin Turban (Northfield, Ill./New Trier), sophomore Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) and an RBI double by senior Shawn Hirsch (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) yielded the first run of the frame for the Orange and Blue. Senior Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) brought in Brouse with an RBI groundout and junior Bret Sokirka (Wyoming, Pa./Wyoming Area) knocked in Hirsch with a single through the left side.
Then in the top of the fifth, Florida State scored for the fourth straight inning. Consecutive singles by Jack Rye, Guinn and Delmonico resulted in the 17th run of the afternoon for the Seminoles.
The offense continued in Bucknell's half of the inning with back-to-back two-out solo home runs by senior Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) and Turban.
Another run came across for FSU in the top of the sixth. Luke Smierciak led off with a walk and scored on a ground ball double play. Then in the eighth, Parker Brunelle drew a one-out walk and later crossed the plate on a single to left by Jack Posey. Florida State would add five more runs in the ninth to bring the score to 24-6.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Orange and Blue tallied the final three runs of the contest. Sophomore Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) walked and came home on an error, while Turban drove in senior Mark Angelo (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) with a double to right and senior Chris Pieper (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) plated Buursma with a groundout.
Freshman Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) started on the mound for the Bison and took the loss (4-4). He pitched 1.2 innings and surrendered six runs on five hits with three walks and one strikeout. Mike McGee earned the victory (7-1) for the Seminoles. He worked five innings and gave up six runs on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Stidham and Oravetz had a team-high three hits apiece for Florida State. Stidham went 3-for-4 in the contest with two runs scored and three RBI, while Oravetz was 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Buster Posey totaled a squad-best five RBI and was 2-for-3 at the plate with two home runs.
For Bucknell, Turban finished 3-for-5, was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, drove in two and scored two. Brouse and Hirsch both hit 2-for-2, Brouse with a home run and two runs scored.
