Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bucknell Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader from Lehigh, Clinches No. 1 Seed in PL Tournament
4/26/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 26, 2009
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Bucknell baseball team swept a doubleheader from Lehigh Sunday afternoon and clinched a share of the Patriot League regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Baseball Tournament in the process. The Bison totaled 29 runs, 32 hits and three home runs en route to 12-6 and 17-8 victories over the Mountain Hawks.
Bucknell (21-23, 13-7 Patriot League) finished the regular season tied atop the league standings with Army, which swept two games from Lafayette Sunday, but the Bison win the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed by virtue of winning three of four games against the Black Knights during the regular season. It is Bucknell's first Patriot League regular-season title since it tied with Lehigh in 2006 and it marks their most wins in Patriot League play since 2003.
The Bison will host a best-of-three first-round Patriot League Tournament series against fourth-seeded Lafayette May 9-10 at Depew Field. A doubleheader will be played on Saturday, while a single game will occur on Sunday, if necessary. The Leopards were the only Patriot League team to win a series against Bucknell during the regular season, taking three of four the first weekend in April.
On Sunday against Lehigh, Bucknell's offense was clicking as it scored 12 runs on 13 hits in game one and totaled 17 runs on 19 more hits in game two. Additionally, the Bison were helped by nine errors by the Mountain Hawks, including six in game two that led to five unearned runs.
Drew Constable (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) had a big day with six hits, while Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) chipped in five and his seventh home run of the season in game two. Constable, Yoder and Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) each recorded four hits in game two.
Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) was 2-for-4 in game one and 1-for-4 in game two and scored a total of four runs while extending his hitting streak to 15 games, one shy of the longest for a Bison this season. Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School) had a hit in each end of the twinbill to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Yoder's big day helped him hit safely in his eighth and ninth straight contests.
Bucknell needed to use only four pitchers in the doubleheader. In game one, Trey Frahler (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) went 6.1 innings and permitted seven hits, four runs and walked four, but still improved to 5-4 on the season. He left the game with a 12-4 lead and was replaced by Sean Driscoll (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy), who yielded a three-run home run to Austin Borden as well as a pair of other singles. The Mountain Hawks, who scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday's second game, recorded five of their 11 hits in the bottom of the seventh off Frahler and Driscoll.
In game two, Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) picked up his fourth win in Patriot League play as he scattered 12 hits and six runs over six innings of work. He exited the game after allowing a double, home run and single to the first three batters in the seventh. Michael Dallanegra (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) replaced him and coaxed a double play from pinch hitter Ross Biggs. Dallanegra finished the game with Lehigh touching him for just single runs in the eighth and ninth innings as he earned his first career save.
Bucknell broke open a 3-3 game one with five runs in the fifth inning. Yoder had an RBI single in the frame and Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West) doubled home two runs, knocking starter Kevin Mihalik (1-6) from the game. Zachary Brown also laced a two-run single to left in the frame, which featured 11 hitters stepping to the plate for the Bison.
Bucknell added two unearned runs in the sixth and then pushed their run total to 12 in the seventh with a leadoff single by pinch hitter Andrew Loucks (Mississauga, Ontario/Appleby College) followed by back-to-back run-scoring doubles by B.J. LaRosa (Jacksonville, Fla./Episcopal) and Bret Sokirka (Wyoming, Pa./Wyoming). Eight of the nine Bison starters had at least one hit in the contest, with Grandizio's two walks and two runs scored making up for his 0-for-2 performance at the plate.
In the nightcap, Bucknell streaked out to a 10-0 lead with five runs in the third and three more in the fifth. All told, the Bison plated at least one run in seven of the nine innings. Every Bucknell player scored at least one run, while Constable and La Rosa crossed the plate three times each.
The Bison batted around in the third inning when they scored their five runs, with a leadoff triple by Grandizio getting things going and a two-RBI double by LaRosa, who was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of runs batted in, the big blow.
After a run in the fourth, three more crossed the plate in the fifth with Sokirka doubling home a run and Allen and Grandizio following with RBI singles.
Four more runs scored in the sixth with three of them unearned, while Yoder and Constable both blasted solo home runs in the seventh to make the score 16-4. Yoder now has seven home runs this year, placing him one shy of joining Bucknell's single-season top-10 list.
Yoder, Constable and Shribman each collected at least seven hits in this weekend's four-game series at Lehigh, while Loucks, Allen and Shribman are each now hitting over .350 this season.
Bucknell will now be idle for nearly two weeks for finals until the Patriot League Tournament.
Patriot League Tournament
May 9-10
at Lewisburg, Pa. (best-of-three)
No. 4 Lafayette at No. 1 Bucknell
at West Point, N.Y. (best-of-three)
No. 3 Holy Cross at No. 2 Army
May 16-17
at Higher Seed (best-of-three)
Bucknell/Lafayette winner vs. Army/Holy Cross winner
