Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Softball Comes From Behind Again to Split with Colgate
4/18/2010 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) erupted for a nearly perfect offensive performance in the second half of Bucknell softball's doubleheader with Colgate and Bridget Gates (Milford, Conn./Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Lauralton Hall) posted her 10th pitching victory to spur the Bison (20-12, 8-4) to a 9-5 victory in eight innings at the Bucknell Softball Field on Sunday afternoon. Fry hit 3-for-3 with two triples and a double in the day's second contest, helping her team bounce back from an 8-5 loss in the opener.
Fry paired her trio of extra-base hits with a hit-by-pitch and an intentional walk. She finished the game with three runs and two RBI. The production capped off an impressive performance throughout the weekend, as Fry closed out the four-game series hitting .538 (7-13) with two doubles, two triples, a home run, seven runs scored and seven RBI.
Each of Fry's hits came at key points in the second game. She opened the Bison's offense with a triple to left field and scored on an RBI double from Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) to give Bucknell a 1-0 lead. Bucknell improved its advantage to 2-0 in the first inning, but Colgate (21-15, 4-8) tied the game at 2-2 by the end of the second. Fry tripled to right center field, scoring Mary Horton (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) to regain the lead at 3-2 and crossed the plate herself with some help from Alison Ford (Suisun City, Calif./Fairfield) for 4-2.
Colgate tied the game for the second time in the bottom of the third and the score sat at 4-4 for the next few innings. Each team put up another run in the sixth and the seventh frames, and the game headed to extra innings knotted up at 5-5.
Fry doubled in the top of the eighth, scoring Horton who had reached on an error. Ford recorded her second RBI of the game with a single that sent Fry home and Bucknell took its largest lead since Ford's first RBI single put it up 4-2 in the third. Not comfortable with just a two-run advantage, Jane Messersmith (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) connected for a home run to straight away center.
The Bison took their 9-5 lead into the bottom half of the eighth. Those extra runs looked especially important as the Raiders put two runners in scoring position. Gates forced Jennifer Ortega to ground out to the shortstop, however, and Bucknell claimed its 20th win of the season.
Gates (10-3) became the first freshman pitcher to record 10 wins in a season for the Bison since Heidi Dawson and Allison Love in 1992. Gates earned her milestone victory by allowing four earned runs on 11 hits in 8.0 innings pitched. She also walked two batters and struck out three.
Courtney O'Connell (5-4) was handed the loss with eight earned runs on 18 hits to her name. The Colgate pitcher walked two and did not record a strikeout in her second complete game of the day.
O'Connell fared much better in the day's opener. She held the Bison offense at bay with a three earned run, seven hit performance to claim the win. Bucknell put one run on the board early as Fry scored on an error by the second baseman.
Whereas Bucknell has been doing its damage lately with power hitting, Colgate wreaked havoc with singles. The Raiders connected for six in the first two innings, leading to a 5-2 advantage and forcing the Bison into two pitching changes. Messersmith lasted just 0.1 innings into her start before being replaced by Liz Fanning (Ventura, Calif./St. Bonaventure HS). Fanning was then replaced in the second frame after allowing a trio of triples that put Colgate up by three runs.
Bucknell twice came within one run of tying the game but fell just short each time. A single off Ford's bat scored Messersmith, who moved to left field after leaving the pitchers' circle, and Sherry Finkel (Morgantown, W. Va./University) scored a pinch running Cassie Greenhawk (Oxford, Md./Easton) to make the score 5-4 in the top of the third.
Colgate took one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning before Bucknell made another push in the sixth. Snyder connected for a one-out single and scored as Elyse Colmenero (Fresno, Calif./Central) doubled to right center field. Bucknell then loaded the bases with a fielder's choice for Fry and an intentional walk for Pavlovich. Nothing came of the threat, however, and the game went into the bottom of the sixth with the score in the Raiders' favor at 6-5.
Colgate tacked on two more runs in the sixth for the final of 8-5 with some help from back-to-back hits from Alana Dyson and Stephanie Hartquist, and O'Connell retired the side in the seventh to end the game. Dyson finished 3-for-4, including her sixth-inning triple, while Hartquist was 3-for-3.
Messersmith (1-7) took the loss, allowing three runs on three hits. Fanning gave up two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work, while Alex MacLean (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) finished the game, allowing two earned runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings.
With the doubleheader split, Bucknell has won 10 of its last 12 games and now has 499 victories in program history. The team will try to reach 500 during their next doubleheader on Wednesday, April 21. The Bison will host La Salle at 3 p.m.
