Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Closes Out Non-League Schedule Wednesday vs. St. Bonaventure
4/21/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team will take its final break from Patriot League play when it hosts St. Bonaventure in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Depew Field. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. It is the final regular season home date for the Bison, although they are in the running to host a first-round Patriot League Tournament series May 9-10.
Bucknell Baseball Notebook (18-20, 10-6 PL)
• Bucknell completed its third 3-1 Patriot League weekend of the year this past Saturday and Sunday against Navy. The Bison received three complete game pitching performances and outscored the Mids 31-26.
• Bucknell is in a tie for first place in the Patriot League with Army. Both squads are 10-6 in league play. Holy Cross and Lafayette are close behind with eight wins apiece, while Navy is 7-9 on the season. The top four teams in the league standings qualify for the postseason, while the top two host first-round series.
• Bucknell is the lone Patriot League team to have clinched a position in the postseason. The Bison are guaranteed of a top-four finish in the final league standings and will be playing in the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth time in five years.
• Bucknell has totaled 10 Patriot League wins this year. The Bison have not won more league contests since going 15-5 in 2003 and claiming the regular-season crown.
• Bucknell is 6-2 in its last eight games. It is the second time this season the Bison have posted six victories in an eight-game stretch.
• The Bison have a chance to finish the regular season with a record above .500 at Depew Field for the second straight year. Bucknell must sweep Wednesday's doubleheader from St. Bonaventure to bring its home ledger to 8-7.
• With two more wins, Bucknell will reach 20 victories in a season for the 12th time. Every 20-win campaign has come since 1991.
• Andrew Brouse, who has a career-best 14-game hitting streak, hit another home run and drove in three more during last weekend's series at Navy. The junior is now tied for fifth on the Bison single-season home run list (9) and is fifth on the RBI ledger (50). He leads the Patriot League in both categories as well as triples (4), total bases (99) and slugging percentage (.688).
• Junior Ben Allen was 10-for-17 (.588) in the four-game series at Navy and owns a seven-game hitting streak. The shortstop registered multiple hits in each game against the Mids and now has a team-high 19 multiple-hit outings this year. He has at least one hit in 15 of his last 16 games and is hitting .453 (29-64) over that stretch. Allen's average has jumped from .291 to .360 over those 16 contests and he is hitting at a .383 clip in Patriot League games.
• Sophomore Doug Shribman is in the midst of a career-best 10-game hitting streak. During that stretch he is hitting 18-for-42 (.429) and has seven games with at least two hits. Shribman also has 10 RBIs in the last 10 games, vaulting his season total to 31, which ranks second on the team and sixth in the Patriot League.
• Senior Dane Grandizio has seven sacrifice bunts this year, tying him for the fifth-most in Bison single-season history. He now has 17 sacrifice bunts in his career, the third-most in program history. The outfielder also had four stolen bases against Navy, boosting his career figure to 33, the seventh-most in program annals.
• Senior Chris Yamaguchi got the weekend series against Navy off to a good start when he limited the Mids to two runs as he hurled the first of three complete games by the Bison starters against the Mids. Yamaguchi, who leads the Patriot League with a 3.48 ERA, improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 opposite Patriot League foes. The right-hander has yielded two or fewer runs in six of his seven career starts, including four of five this year. Yamaguchi's six wins this year place him in a tie for ninth on the Bison single-season list.
• Sophomore starting pitcher Trey Frahler has been a workhorse for Bucknell this year, piling up a Patriot League-most 54.0 innings. He is third in the Patriot League with a 4.00 ERA has three complete games, all against conference opponents, and has a solid 2.13 ERA in PL contests.
• Patriot League opponents have stolen just two bases in 10 attempts against Bucknell this year. By contrast, the Bison have 17 steals in 23 attempts.
• Bucknell has registered at least 10 hits for seven straight games and 10 of its last 11. Overall, the Bison have tallied double-figure hits 24 times in 38 games this year.
Bucknell vs. St. Bonaventure
• Bucknell is 7-13-1 all-time against St. Bonaventure and has won two straight against the Bonnies. • Bucknell beat St. Bonaventure 9-6 in Olean, N.Y., last year. • The Bison and Bonnies last met in Lewisburg in 2005 with the two teams splitting a doubleheader.
About St. Boanventure
• St. Bonaventure was scheduled to play Canisius Tuesday afternoon, but the contest was cancelled due to rain. The Bonnies will bring a 16-15 overall record to Depew Field. They are 5-9 in the Atlantic 10 and have lost five games in a row.
• St. Bonaventure is hitting .288 as a team this year and owns a 5.01 ERA. Six pitchers own ERAs below 5.00.
Up Next
• Bucknell will conclude Patriot League play this weekend with a four-game series at last-place Lehigh. The Bison will be attempting to claim their first outright regular-season title since 2003.
