Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Canisius
Bucknell Baseball Falls to Canisius Twice, 4-3 & 4-1
3/21/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell baseball team faced Canisius in a non-league doubleheader on Saturday at Depew Field and came away with a pair of losses. Both ends of the doubleheader were scheduled for seven innings, but game one went extra innings as the Golden Griffins won 4-3 in eight. Canisius then claimed the nightcap 4-1 as three pitchers combined on a two-hitter.
In game one, Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) was 3-for-4 and Eric Jarrett (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) went 6.1 innings and allowed just five hits and struck out five for Bucknell (6-12). Alex MacKenzie (2-1) pitched all eight innings, yielded eight hits and allowed just one earned run while striking out eight for Canisius (10-9), which posted its fourth consecutive win. Perry Silverman was 3-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI, leading the Golden Griffins' offense.
A solo home run to left by Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School), his third of the year, in the second staked the Bison to an early 1-0 lead.
A leadoff walk by Jarrett to Brandon Joseph in the fifth started a three-run inning for Canisius. Silverman and Kevin Mailloux followed with back-to-back RBI doubles before Jarrett settled down and retired the final three hitters in the inning. One of those outs was a sacrifice fly that plated Mailloux for the third run.
Bucknell tied the score up in the bottom of the fifth when Bret Sokirka (Wyoming, Pa./Wyoming Area) drew a two-out walk. Allen followed with a double into the right field corner. Sokirka rounded third base and Mailloux's relay throw behind him sailed over the head of the third baseman, Kevin Mahoney. Mahoney tracked the ball down and tried to throw out Sokirka at home, but his throw went wide and into the third-base dugout, allowing Allen to score the tying run.
Jarrett then kept Canisius in check as he struck out the next four hitters he faced, all looking. However, a one-out double by Silverman in the seventh knocked him from the game in favor of freshman Alex Cillo (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Township).
After a walk to the first hitter he faced, Cillo (0-1) retired the final two batters in the inning. Despite singles by B.J. LaRosa (Jacksonville, Fla./Episcopal) and Allen, Bucknell could not push across a run in the bottom of the frame, sending the game to extra innings.
Brian Burton led off the top of the eighth with a single and pinch runner Connor Burke moved to third on a one-out double by Brad Medici. Burke then scored what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Steve McQuail.
In game two, Matt Weber (1-0), Aaron Boag and Shayne Willson combined on a two-hitter for Canisius. A single in the third by Sokirka and another single in the seventh by Drew Constable were the only hits for the Bison.
Despite just two hits, Bucknell did load the bases in the fourth courtesy of two walks and a hit by pitch.
Bison starter Dylan Seeley (0-3) (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) held the Griffs without a run through the first four frames, retiring them in order three times during that span.
Canisius got on the board with two runs in the fifth when Bucknell used four pitchers who combined to issue four walks and three wild pitches.
The Golden Griffins tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh. In the sixth, the first three hitters reached base via a hit with Burke driving home Ian Choy with a single up the middle. Mahoney then hit a deep home run to right center to provide an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
Bison pitchers were plagued by walks throughout the doubleheader as 13 Golden Griffins drew walks in the two games.
Bucknell and Canisius will wrap up their four-game weekend series Sunday at Depew Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. The Golden Griffins have won the first three games of the series.
