Bucknell Softball Faces Elon, Kent State at Golden Corral Classic Sunday
2/27/2009 7:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 27, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the second time in three weeks, the Bucknell softball team will head to North Carolina for an early season tournament. The Bison (5-5) will take part in the Golden Corral Classic on Sunday, March 1, facing the host school Elon and Kent State in Elon, N.C. All games originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28 have been cancelled due to weather. Live stats for both games will be available on ElonPhoenix.com.
With its first game, Bucknell will play its 1,050th game in program history. Bison softball became a varsity sport in 1979 and has accumulated a 465-578-6 all-time record.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
- Kent State and Bucknell will play at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The Golden Flashes are 5-5 in the early goings of the 2009 season, but are suffering through three-game losing streak. The squad started the year strong, winning three of four contests at the Stetson Leadoff Classic in early February. Their results were reversed more recently at the Littlewood Classic at Arizona State. Leah Archual leads the team at the plate with a .371 batting average (13-35). The outfielder's 13 hits and two doubles leads the team. Kylei Reynolds leads the way in the pitcher's circle with a 4-3 record and 1.48 earned run average.
- Elon and Bucknell will take to the field at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday. The Phoenix are 4-5 on the year with a two wins over both North Carolina A&T and Siena. The team is riding a three-game winning streak into their home tournament. Two Phoenix are hitting better than .400 so far. Melanie Helterbrand is at .429 in seven at-bats, while Brandi Jones is close behind at .423 in 26 appearances at the plate. Both players have one home run on the young season, and Ashlee Crewe leads with two. The Phoenix also have two pitchers at 2-1 in Erin O'Shea (3.05 ERA) and Helterbran (4.75 ERA).
LAST TIME OUT
- Bucknell continued to split its contests last weekend, going 2-2 at the Longwood Tournament. Both wins came against Quinnipiac, while the pair of losses came to St. John's and Longwood.
- Alison Ford (Suison, Calif./Fairfield) and Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) were named to the All-Tournament Team for their play in Virginia. Ford, who made the team at third base, hit .545 (6-11) with four runs, four RBIs, two doubles and a triple. The sophomore also drew a pair of walks while starting all four games. Beans, a senior outfielder, hit .444 (4-9) on the weekend with three runs, two RBI, two walks and two extra-base hits.
- Although Bucknell was shut out 5-0 against St. John's in the lead off game, the team bounced back later that day against Quinnipiac, defeating the Bobcats 13-1. Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) led at the plate, going 2-3 with two runs and an RBI. Beans recorded both her RBI in the game while hitting 2-2 on the day. Kara Sullivan (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) hit her first career grand slam in the contest. Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) got the win for the Bison, striking out four and giving up three runs over five innings.
- The first game of the day continued to be difficult for the Orange and Blue on Sunday as they fell 16-3 to Longwood. Ford finished 2-3 and scored one of Bucknell's runs. Fry also scored while going 0-1 with two walks. Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) also scored following a double.
- Bucknell beat Quinnipiac for the second time in as many days but was forced to come from behind in its second meeting with the Bobcats. The Bison trailed 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth before scoring four runs to give them the ultimate 10-7 lead. Sherry Finkel (Morgantown, W. Va./University) drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to start the scoring. With the bases still loaded, Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) singled up the middle, advanced to second base on the throw and third on an error to clear the bases.
UP NEXT
With a week off of classes for Spring Recess, the Bison will head to Florida to take part in the Rebel Spring Games. Beginning Sunday, March 8, Bucknell will play 10 games, taking on Penn, Yale, Sacred Heart, IPFW, Buffalo, Robert Morris, Columbia, Bryant and Butler twice during the week.