Bucknell University
Navy
Walk-Off Hit by Constable Helps Bucknell Baseball to Doubleheader Split with Navy
4/17/2010 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 17, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - A seventh-inning, walk-off single that rolled between shortstop and third base by Drew Constable scored Ben Yoder and capped a four-run Bucknell rally as the Bison baseball team defeated Navy, 5-4, in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at a chilly and windy Depew Field. The Mids claimed game two by an 11-8 margin, plating nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings alone.
Navy's Sam Long held the Bison offense in check for most of game one and Bucknell (15-23, 4-6 Patriot League) entered the seventh, and final, inning trailing 4-1. Travis Clark, David Duffett and Ben Allen, who was 3-for-3 with two runs scored in the game, had three consecutive singles off Long and reliever Drew Carlson (1-1) to load the bases with none out. After a groundout by B.J. LaRosa made it 4-2, a long double to left-center by Yoder tied the score. Carlson then intentionally walked Andrew Brouse before departing in favor of Tyler Mapes.
Constable, who was a combined 3-for-9 with four RBIs in Saturday's doubleheader, came up to the plate against Mapes with runners on first and second and just one out. He proceeded to hit a soft grounder through the left side. Left fielder Andrew Hahn fielded the ball at the same time Yoder rounded third, but Hahn's throw bounced a couple of times on the FieldTurf surface and slowed down, allowing Yoder to slide in safely with the winning run.
Trey Frahler (4-3) picked up the win in game one as he fired his first complete game of the year. He allowed eight hits and four runs, struck out four and walked three. He faced just one hitter over the minimum through three innings and retired the final five batters he faced. The Mids recorded just one extra-base hit, a second-inning double by Steven Soares, off Frahler, who now has 11 career victories.
Allen's three hits led the Bison offense in game one, while Yoder and David Duffett had two each. Both of Yoder's hits were doubles and he finished with three RBIs as he drove home Allen with a first-inning, one-out double.
Like Frahler, Bucknell's game two starter Steve Carlin (1-3) was strong early. Working quickly, he allowed just one hit and walked a pair during the first three innings. The lone hit was erased on a double play. During the same span, the Bison plated three runs of their own as Yoder had an RBI single and Bob Donato a sacrifice fly in the first inning and Doug Shribman hit his eighth home run of the year over the right-field wall in the second.
The 3-0 edge lasted until the fourth inning when Navy plated five runs. The Mids then added four more in the fifth to take a 9-3 advantage. Navy (23-14, 4-6 PL) batted around in the fifth against Carlin with the big blow being a two-run double by Jeff Bland, who was 3-for-5 with six RBIs in game two. He finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as he hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning.
Carlin, who struck out three Mids, began the fifth inning on the mound, but was lifted in favor of Ryan Ebner after the first two hitters reached on a single and an error. Ebner got two outs on a sac bunt and a fielder's choice and it appeared he might get out of the inning with only one run allowed, but then Bland hit a two-out, three-run home run that kept carrying to right field, the direction the wind was blowing.
The Mids tacked on two more runs in the seventh, but Daniel Hart shut them down after that, retiring the last seven hitters he faced, retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth innings. In fact, he allowed a single to Bland, the first hitter he faced, and the only other person to reach base in his 2.2 innings did so on an error.
Bucknell did chip away at the Navy lead with three runs in the fifth and one more in both the seventh and eighth innings. Constable drove in two runs with a single in the fifth and one more on an RBI single in the seventh.
Trailing 11-8 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Bison were hoping to repeat the heroics from game one and overcome a three-run deficit in their last at bat. Things started off well as Yoder drew a leadoff walk and then Donato had a one-out single, bringing Constable to the plate representing the tying run. He grounded into a fielder's choice and reliever Joel Rinehart retired Matt Lamore to end the game and pick up his second save of the year.
The Bison finished game two with 12 hits, the same number they had in game one. LaRosa was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Donato, Constable and Shribman posted two hits apiece. Allen, who has now started 121 consecutive games at shortstop, and LaRosa finished the doubleheader with four hits apiece.
Bucknell and Navy will wrap up their four-game weekend series with another doubleheader on Sunday starting at noon. Both games will have live audio broadcasts on 90.5 WVBU and SportsJuice.com.
