Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Opens Patriot League Road Slate This Weekend at Holy Cross
4/10/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 10, 2009
***Bucknell's next home game, April 15 vs. Towson, has been added to the broadcast schedule on 90.5 WVBU and SportsJuice.com. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m. For a complete list of Bucknell's spring audio and video broadcasts, click here.***
LEWISBURG, Pa. – After playing its first eight Patriot League games at Depew Field, the Bucknell baseball team will hit the road for the first of three consecutive away league weekends this Saturday and Sunday. The Bison will face Holy Cross in a pair of doubleheaders at 3,000-seat Fitton Field. Saturday's twinbill commences at 3 p.m., while Sunday's is slated for the customary 12 p.m. time slot.
Bucknell Baseball Notebook (12-18, 4-4 PL)
Bucknell Notes
• Bucknell lost its second one-run game in nine days to Penn State on Wednesday. The Bison built a 10-6 lead, but the Nittany Lions plated six runs in the final three innings, including the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Bucknell also lost to Penn State by a 6-5 score on March 31 with the Nittany Lions scoring the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, breaking a 5-5 deadlock.
• Three of Bucknell's last four games against Penn State have been decided by one run with the Nittany Lions claiming all three.
• Andrew Brouse, who has driven in at least one run in seven consecutive games, had three more runs batted in on Wednesday against Penn State. The junior now has a Patriot League-leading 42 RBIs this year, a figure that ranks ninth in Bucknell single-season history. Brouse enters this weekend's Holy Cross series having driven in more than one run in four straight games, the second time he has accomplished that feat this season. Only twice has he gone as many as three consecutive games without picking up an RBI.
• Bucknell is in the midst of a five-game road trip. The Bison will play 12 of their final 15 games on the road this year.
• Bucknell enters the weekend tied for third in the Patriot League standings with Lafayette with a 4-4 record. The Bison opened the league campaign 3-1 for the third consecutive year.
• As it embarks on its first Patriot League road games, Bucknell will be trying to finish at least .500 on the road in Patriot League play for the fourth consecutive year. The Bison were 4-4 in Patriot League road contests in 2008, 6-6 in 2007 and 6-2 in 2006. Bucknell last finished under .500 in league road games in 2005 when it went 5-7.
• Brouse has a team-best .676 slugging percentage. That figure would rank sixth on the Bison single-season list, one spot ahead of Jason Buursma's .671 from last year. Brouse's career slugging percentage is now .538, just shy of 10th place on the Bucknell career list.
• Ben Allen, who tied his career high with four hits against Penn State on Wednesday and has registered four consecutive multi-hit games, owns an eight-game hitting streak, equaling his longest of the season. With at least one hit in the opener of this weekend's series, Allen will equal Brouse and Ben Yoder for the longest hitting streak by a Bison this year.
• Despite yielding eight earned runs in his last start, Chris Yamaguchi remains among the Patriot League leaders in ERA. The senior has a 3.99 ERA to rank third in the league. His four wins place him in a tie for first in the PL.
• Bucknell has had nine different pitchers start games this year, with freshman Alex Cillo becoming the latest addition to that list on Wednesday at Penn State. The four pitchers who have the most starts (Trey Frahler, Dylan Seeley, Eric Jarrett, Sean Driscoll) have combined for 23 in all. Frahler's seven starting assignments lead the team.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League with 202 runs scored this season. Bison hold down four of the top eight individual positions in runs scored. Allen (second), Brouse (third), Dane Grandizio (sixth) and Yoder (eighth) are among the league leaders.
• Bucknell has already piled up 13 triples this season, including a Patriot League-most four by Brouse. Last year, when the Bison played 56 games, they accumulated just 12 triples with no player registering more than two.
• Freshman Bob Donato is hitting .319 this season to rank fourth on the team. The last Bison freshman to finish the year with a higher batting average was Jason Buursma, who hit .366 as a rookie in 2005. Donato has at least one hit in each of his last eight starts.
Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
• Bucknell is 40-27 all-time against Holy Cross in a series that began in 1991.
• Bucknell won three of four against the Crusaders at Depew Field last year.
• Bucknell was 1-3 against Holy Cross in 2007, the last time the two teams met in Worcester, Mass.
• Bucknell and Holy Cross have not split a season series since 2005.
About Holy Cross
• Holy Cross is 12-17 this year and is 4-2 in Patriot League play, having had a doubleheader against Lehigh postponed. The Crusaders enter the weekend on a three-game losing streak, but had posted seven straight wins immediately preceding that streak.
• Holy Cross owns a .269 team batting average, with just two players hitting over .300. Matt Perry has six home runs and a .388 batting average. He is tied for the league lead in home runs and is fourth in batting average.
• The Crusaders have been plagued by an ERA over 7.00 this year. Opponents own a 4.21 ERA.
Up Next
• Bucknell will return home next Wednesday, April 15, to host Towson in a single game at Depew Field. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
