Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Princeton
LaRosa, Shribman and Yoder Continue Hot Streaks as Bucknell Baseball Closes Weekend with 10-4 Victory Over Princeton
3/7/2010 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2010
ELON, N.C. - Ben Yoder and B.J. LaRosa continued their recent hot streaks with three hits apiece and Doug Shribman and Bob Donato each homered as the Bucknell baseball team won for the fifth time in its last six games, defeating Princeton 10-4 Sunday afternoon to conclude the Elon Invitational.
Yoder and LaRosa, along with Shribman, extended their hitting streaks to nine games. Yoder is now hitting .448 over the last six games, while LaRosa is hitting .542 over that span, only a slight increase from his team-best .526 overall batting average. Since losing its first four games, Bucknell's offense has really blossomed over the last six contests, averaging more than 10 runs and 15 hits a game over that span. At the same time, the Bison pitching staff has a 4.15 ERA over the last six outings, less than half that of its opponents.
On Sunday, the Bison accumulated 15 hits, their sixth double-figure outing in their last seven contests. Seven of the nine starters had at least one hit, and five posted multi-hit games.
As it has throughout the early part of this season, Bucknell (5-5) jumped out on top early with five runs in the top of the second inning. The Bison batted around in the frame with the big blow being a two-run home run by Donato, his first of the year. LaRosa, who was 3-for-6 on the day, also drove in a run with a single.
Bucknell capitalized on four Princeton errors in the game, scoring unearned runs in the fourth and ninth innings as it added onto its early cushion with at least one run in four of the final six innings.
Shribman, who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, smashed his second home run of the weekend in the sixth, scoring Yoder, who had reached on a leadoff single. Shribman is now hitting .359 on the season and has at least one hit in 27 of his last 28 games.
The Bison added on another run in the seventh when David Duffett drew a one-out walk and later scored on a two-out Yoder double.
Bucknell's pitching was solid as Jack Boehm (2-1) started and picked up the win, becoming the first Bison hurler to post two victories this year. He went 5.0 innings, allowed five hits, three earned runs and three walks while striking out three. Three Bucknell pitchers combined for nine strikeouts in the game.
Boehm got out of second and third with none out jam in the second, yielding just two runs after coaxing a pair of ground balls out of the bottom of the Princeton (0-4) lineup. No other runner reached third base against Boehm.
Junior Steve Carlin pitched three innings of relief and gave up a two-out, two-run home run in the eighth to Jon Broscious. Carlin retired six of the seven hitters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings and had struck out two of the three he went up against in the eighth before the home run.
Left-hander Eric Jarrett pitched a perfect ninth, recording a pair of strikeouts.
The Tigers never got closer than three runs after Bucknell's five spot in the second inning.
Princeton used four pitchers in the game with starter Matt Bowman (0-1) getting the loss. The Bison knocked him out of the game in the fourth after he had yielded eight hits and six runs.
Bucknell finished the Elon Invitational with a 2-1 record, having defeated Elon 18-3 on Friday and losing to Radford 4-2 on Saturday.
Thanks to a third straight errorless game, the Bison's fielding percentage this season jumped to .980. Bucknell has just seven errors in 10 games, while its opponents have committed 21.
While Yoder, LaRosa and Shribman each have nine-game hitting streaks, they are not the only Bison to be on hot streaks. Ben Allen, who was 2-for-6 with a run scored, has hit safely in seven in a row, while Andrew Brouse has hit in six straight thanks to a ninth-inning single on Sunday.
The Bison will be on the road again on Tuesday when they travel to Villanova for a 2:45 p.m. game in Southeast Pennsylvania.
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