Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Canisius
Bucknell Baseball Drops Home Opener to Canisius, 9-5
3/20/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 20, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Playing at home for the first time this season, the Bucknell baseball team lost to Canisius 9-5 Friday afternoon at a sunny Depew Field. The Bison, who led 4-0 early, managed just four hits and committed three errors in the loss.
Bucknell (6-10) batted around in the third inning and plated four runs on just one hit in the frame to take a 4-0 lead. The Bison capitalized one two walks, two hit by pitches and an error. Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) had an RBI single in the inning and later scored when shortstop Steve McQuail flipped the ball to second for what would have been the third out of the inning. However, second baseman Kevin Mailloux was nowhere near the bag. Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West), who extended his consecutive games with an RBI streak to nine even though his nine-game hitting streak was snapped, also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to left.
The Bison added another run in the fifth when Andrew Loucks (Mississauga, Ontario/Appleby College) singled home Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School) with a two-out single to left. Loucks was erased at second base after the throw home was up the first base line.
Bucknell managed just one more hit, a B.J. LaRosa (Jacksonville, Fla./Episcopal) double leading off the ninth, after Loucks' single. Canisius tallied the final eight runs of the game, including five in the seventh inning when it batted around.
Trey Frahler (1-4) (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) started on the mound for the Bison and was very solid for the first six innings. He faced the minimum nine hitters through the first three innings and yielded only three runs and six hits through the sixth inning.
McQuail led off the seventh with a single up the middle for the Golden Griffins. A pair of errors then hampered Frahler as shortstop Ben Allen tried to initiate a double play before he had the ball, allowing the second hitter in the inning to reach base. With runners on first and second and none out, ninth-place hitter Connor Burke bunted between the pitcher's mound and third base. Frahler fielded it, but his throw took first baseman Doug Shribman off the bag, loading the bases. A two-run single by Branson Joseph tied the score at 5-5 and a two-run triple by Perry Silverman gave Canisius a 7-5 cushion. An RBI single by Kevin Mailloux made it 8-5 and knocked Frahler from the game.
Chris Yamaguchi (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South), who leads the Bison with an ERA well below 2.00, came in and retired the first three hitters he faced. He then scattered four hits and a walk over the final two innings and allowed just one run.
Mike Goemans (2-1) earned the win for Canisius (8-9) as he went 8.0 innings, allowed three hits, five runs, three earned runs and struck out three. Outside of the four-run third inning, he never faced more than four Bucknell hitters in an inning. Ryan McGorman pitched the ninth and got into a two on, one-out jam, but got a couple of ground balls to third base to end the game.
Yoder, Shribman, Loucks and LaRosa each had one hit for Bucknell. Yoder extended his hitting streak to nine games, while Loucks reached base via a hit, error or walk in nine straight plate appearances dating back to Wednesday's contest at Mount St. Mary's before grounding out in his final plate appearance Friday.
Bucknell and Canisius will play two more games on Saturday. The doubleheader is slated to begin at 12 p.m. at Depew Field. The squads will then wrap up their four-game series Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.
