Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Bucknell Baseball Eliminated from Patriot League Tournament by Lafayette, 10-2
5/10/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lafayette's Ryan Hanna pitched a strong seven innings, yielded five hits and allowed just one run as he helped the Lafayette baseball team to a 10-2 victory over Bucknell Sunday afternoon at Depew Field. The Bison were eliminated from the Patriot League Tournament with the loss as the Leopards won the best-of-three series two games to one. Lafayette will advance to next weekend's championship series at second-seeded Army, which defeated Holy Cross 11-0 on Sunday.
Bucknell, which was the top seed and the defending tournament champion, completed its season with a 22-25 mark. Fourth-seeded Lafayette improved to 24-27 with the victory.
Hanna (6-3) was the story of the game one day after pitching 3.2 innings of one-run relief. He totaled 10.2 innings, gave up five hits and just two runs, only one of which was earned, in a pair of appearances over the last two days. He also struck out 10, including seven on Sunday.
The Leopards offense backed up Hanna's impressive performance on the mound by scoring at least one run in each of the first six innings and jumping out to a 7-0 advantage. Lafayette touched Bison starter Dylan Seeley (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) for nine hits, six runs and four walks in four-plus innings of work. He was removed after giving up back-to-back doubles to Matt Hall and Matt Fenster to lead off the fifth.
Bucknell's offense, which was averaging better than seven runs per game, could not get into gear against Hanna. Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) led off the first with a single and Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) followed with a bunt single, but Bucknell would tally just one more hit over the first five innings as Hanna retired 16 of the next 18 batters.
The Bison got on the board with an unearned run in the sixth when Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) scampered home from third on a passed ball. Two innings later Grandizio walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single to center by Yoder.
Lafayette managed 18 hits, one more than it had in its 20-9 victory in game two Saturday, off three Bucknell pitchers. At least five Leopards batted in every inning except the ninth when Chris Yamaguchi (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South), who recorded the final four outs, retired them in order.
Leadoff hitter Rob Froio paced the Leopards as he was 4-for-5, drove in two runs scored another and walked. Jeff Butler also had three hits, while Hall hit a deep two-run home run to right-center in the eighth. Eight of Lafayette's starters had at least one hit and scored at least one run.
Jeremy Atkins, who got the win in relief in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, pitched the final two innings and gave up just one run on Yoder's RBI single.
For the second straight day Daniel Hart (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) logged major innings in relief for the Bison. He limited the Leopards to no runs on three hits in three innings to earn the save in game one Saturday. On Sunday, he pitched 3.2 innings and scattered eight hits. The Leopards did touch him for four runs, but three of those came in the eighth inning, his final frame.
Bucknell concluded the game with four seniors getting at bats in their final career contest. Hunter George (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) and Zachary Brown (Stroudsburg, Pa./Notre Dame) both pinch hit, while Andrew Loucks (Mississauga, Ontario/Appleby College) and Bret Sokirka (Wyoming, Pa./Wyoming Area) were already in the lineup.
With his leadoff single, Allen, who finished the year with a team-best .366 batting average, extended his hitting streak to 16 games, while Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School) singled in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest by a Bison player in more than a decade. Allen's 68 hits this year rank him third on the Bison single-season list.
Bucknell's 20-win season was its 11 in the last 14 years, while the Bison earned a share of their sixth Patriot League regular-season crown with a 13-7 league mark.
