Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Softball Travels to Holy Cross for League Opener
3/27/2009 8:00:00 AM | Softball
March 27, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell softball will face its first Patriot League foe of the season as it takes on Holy Cross at noon March 28-29. The Bison (8-14) recently ended a five-game skid with a win over Drexel on Wednesday. They will try to carry that momentum to Worcester, Mass., in pursuit of another league championship.
The Bison have a history of success against the Crusaders (6-14), having posted a 40-23 all-time record in 19 years of meetings. The Orange and Blue currently own a six-game winning streak against Holy Cross and have also won 18 of the last 20 contests. Bucknell swept Holy Cross last season at the Varsity Softball Field, outscoring the visiting team 28-4 over four games. Two of those runs came from Kristin Frick (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) as she connected for a pair of home runs in the second game of the first doubleheader.
LAST TIME OUT
- In their last outing, the Bison split the doubleheader against Drexel on Wednesday. In its first home game of the season, Bucknell defeated the Dragons, 5-3, as pitcher Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) collected her fifth win in 2009. Bucknell was less fortunate in the day's second game, falling 9-3 in six innings as the game was called for darkness. Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) connected for two extra-base hits in her first two at bats, but a strong fourth inning for Drexel put a Bison win out of reach.
- Despite Beans' display of well-placed power in game two, the first contest of the game was won thanks to a series of singles throughout play. All five runs for the Bison involved singles. Elyse Colmenero (Fresno, Calif./Central), Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium), Ashley Carlson (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) and Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainsfield) each connected for singles in the second inning, resulting in three runs. Fry's ball up the middle earned her two runs batted in. Cassie Lloyd (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) and Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) posted singles in the third. Lloyd eventually scored, while Pavlovich recorded an RBI in the inning.
- Head coach Heather Rakosik claimed her 150th career victory in the mid-week series. The fifth-year Bison coach has amassed a 150-215-2 record with Bucknell and Ohio Wesleyan.
- With her second-inning triple, Beans increased her total to four on the season. That puts her within one triple of moving into the Bucknell top 10 in the category. The senior also leads the team in doubles this season with five.
- McDonald moved into sole possession of ninth place on the Bucknell all-time wins list following her game-one performance on Wednesday. In four years in the Orange and Blue, she has accumulated 19 victories. The senior also improved to seventh on the career strikeouts list with 133.
ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
- Holy Cross is in the midst of a six-game losing streak, having just been swept by Hartford on Wednesday. Entering the weekend, the Crusaders are 6-14. The matchup with the Bison will be the Crusaders' first league series as well.
- Holy Cross is led by a pair of sophomores, Keeley Seniuk and Caitlin Belanger. Seniuk's .339 (20-for-59) batting average is best on the team, as is her totals in doubles (7), home runs (2) and RBI (14). Belanger excels in the pitching circle and at the plate. Her 4-4 record in 11 appearances, six complete games, 2.86 earned run average and 31 strikeouts places her as the Crusaders' top pitcher. The underclassman also ranks among the team's best hitters with a .286 (14-for-49) average, two doubles and 10 RBI. Another sophomore, Tiffany Medwid, entered the week with an eight-game hitting streak but had the run broken in the first game against Hartford, going 0-for-3.
- The Crusaders were picked sixth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, one year after finishing last in the league. Holy Cross posted an overall record of 10-31 (.241) and a Patriot League record of 5-15 (.250) in 2008.
UP NEXT
Bucknell will continue on the road for another non-conference matchup as it takes on the Towson Tigers in Towson, Md., on Tuesday, March 31. The doubleheader is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
