Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Goes for First Patriot League Regular-Season Title Since 2003 this Weekend at Lehigh
4/24/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 24, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team has a chance to earn its first Patriot League regular-season title since 2003 as it heads into its final weekend of play at Lehigh. The Bison and Mountain Hawks will meet in doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday at noon in Bethlehem, Pa. Bucknell enters the weekend tied atop the league standings with Army, which will play a four-game set at Lafayette.
Bucknell Baseball Notebook (18-22, 10-6 PL)
• Bucknell is tied with Army for first place in the Patriot League standings with matching 10-6 records. Holy Cross and Lafayette are close behind with eight wins apiece. The Bison, who are the lone team to have clinched a postseason berth, will win tiebreakers against Army, Holy Cross and Navy given their 3-1 records against all three. If Bucknell finishes in the top two in the final standings it will earn the right to host a first-round Patriot League Tournament series.
• The first round of the Patriot League Tournament will take place May 9-10 at the home fields of the two highest seeds. The No. 1 seed will play the No. 4, while the No. 2 will host the No. 3, both will be best-of-three series with doubleheaders on Saturday and a single game, if necessary, on Sunday. The best-of-three championship series will take place the next weekend (May 16-17) at the home of the higher remaining seed.
• Bucknell is 7-2 in its last nine Patriot League games. The Bison have posted at least 10 league wins for the fourth time in the last five years.
• Andrew Brouse has hits in 15 consecutive games. Over the last four years, only Jason Buursma, who had a 15-game hitting streak of his own in 2008, has hit safely in as many straight contests as Brouse.
• Brouse's 2009 campaign is one for the record books. He is climbing a number of Bison single-season lists. He ranks tied for fifth in home runs (9), tied for fourth in RBIs (51), tied for eighth in total bases (103) and fourth in slugging percentage (.705).
• Brouse is not the only Bison with a lengthy hitting streak as Doug Shribman has hits in 11 straight games and Ben Allen has hit safely in nine consecutive contests. Shribman is hitting at a .422 (19-for-42) clip during his streak, while Allen is at .457 (16-for-35) during his.
• Bucknell's top hitter this season has been senior Andrew Loucks (.378). The right-handed hitter has been in the lineup mainly at designated hitter, but has also played in the outfield nine times. He is hitting a robust .464 (13-for-28) when in the outfield.
• With two more wins, Bucknell will reach 20 victories in a season for the 12th time. Every 20-win campaign has come since 1991.
• Allen has started 76 consecutive games at shortstop. He is the only Bison to appear in and start all 40 contests this year.
• Bucknell lost a pair of games to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday as it closed out its home and non-league schedules. The Bison lost game one 6-3 and then dropped game two 12-2 with backups playing at nearly every position. Pitcher Jimmy Murphy had his first career hit in the nightcap, while freshman Gerald Runyan picked up his first career RBI.
Bucknell vs. Lehigh
• Bucknell and Lehigh have played 144 times, splitting the series 72-72.
• Lehigh won three of four meetings at Depew Field last year.
• Each of the last three years the visiting team has won the four-game series 3-1.
About Lehigh
• Lehigh has lost nine of its last 10 games and is the only team in the Patriot League not alive for a postseason bid. The Mountain Hawks are 10-33-1 this season and 3-11 in league play.
Up Next
• With the regular season wrapping up this weekend, Bucknell will turn its sights to the Patriot League Tournament, which begins May 9-10 at the home fields of the two highest seeds. The Bison have already clinched their spot in the four-team field for the fourth time in the last five years.
