April 20, 2010
Live Stats vs. La Salle Game 1 
Live Stats vs. La Salle Game 2
Video at Lehigh (Saturday, April 24, available at 4 p.m.)
Live Audio at Lehigh (April 24-25)
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell softball heads into the weekend looking for sole possession of second place in the Patriot League standings when it takes on Lehigh April 24-25. The Bison (20-12, 8-4) and Mountain Hawks currently share the No. 2 position with two weeks remaining in the league schedule. Before it can get to its four-game series in Bethlehem, Pa., however, Bucknell will host La Salle at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at the Varsity Softball Field. Live stats for the Bison-Explorers matchup will be available on BucknellBison.com, while action at Lehigh's Kaufman Field can be listened to live on LehighSports.com.
ABOUT THE BISON
Bucknell went 5-1 last week with a sweep over Saint Francis (Pa.), followed by three wins against Patriot League foe Colgate. The Bison outscored their opponents 46-23 in those six games.
With their recent stretch of success, the Bison are now eight games over .500 for the first time since 1993. The 1993 Bucknell squad finished the season 27-8 overall and 8-4 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell will be looking for its 500th win in program history this week. Since their first year as a varsity sport in 1979, the Bison are 499-617-6.
With its final win over Colgate last Sunday, Bucknell claimed its 20th victory of the season. That marks just the eighth season in program history and the second time in the last 14 years the Bison have reached the 20-win mark.
Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) and Bridget Gates (Milford, Conn./Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Lauralton Hall) both claimed weekly awards from the Patriot League on Monday. Fry was named the league's Player of the Week after hitting .471 with two doubles, two triples and a home run last week. The junior outfielder also posted eight runs and seven RBI. Gates was named the Rookie of the Week with her trio of pitching performances. The freshman went 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 16 strikeouts. That included a career-best nine strikeouts against Colgate on Saturday.
Gates' season record is now 10-3 in the pitchers' circle. That mark makes her the first Bison pitcher to reach 10 wins in her freshman campaign since Heidi Dawson and Allison Love in 1992.
Alison Ford (Suisun City, Calif./Fairfield) has been quietly moving her way to the top of the hitters list. The junior is tied for second on the squad in batting average at .386 and leads the team in RBI with 26. Many of those runs batted in have come in the last few weeks, as she has at least one RBI in each of the last six games and in 11 of the last 12.
Bucknell has used power hitting to its advantage this year. The Bison have 87 extra-base hits on the year, compare to 66 for their opponents. Just in its six games last week, Bucknell tallied 13 doubles, nine triples and six home runs.
Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) saw her hitting streak come to an end this weekend. The senior recorded at least one hit in 11 straight games beginning in game three against Holy Cross and ending in the second contest with Colgate on Saturday.
Bucknell has started making some dents in the record books. The team is now fourth all-time in RBI with 174 and is on the verge of breaking into the top five in home runs, runs scored and walks as well. Individually, Pavlovich is tied for seventh all-time in career games played (168), fourth in career doubles (34), sixth in career runs scored (85) and tied for 10th in career home runs (7). Fry is fifth in single-season (36) and career (85) runs scored, as well as tied for fourth in single-season walks (24).
ABOUT THE EXPLORERS
La Salle, which takes on Marist on Tuesday before traveling to Lewisburg, enters the week with an 11-21 overall record. The Explorers has lost five of their last seven, including a recent doubleheader split at Drexel last week.
The Explorers continue to get strong production from Gina Massaro. Massaro, who has the team's lone Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection last season, is leading La Salle in batting average (.370), ERA (2.23) and wins (5-6) this year.
While still posting a record under .500 this season, the Explorers have worked their way to a slight improvement in the new year. La Salle finished 2009 at 9-29.
Bucknell will be looking for its first win over La Salle in series history. The Explorers hold the 5-0 edge since the teams first met in 1992. Their last meeting came in 1995, and Bucknell took a tough 4-3 loss in 11 innings.
ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS
Lehigh is 24-14 overall and 8-4 in the Patriot League heading into the week with a non-conference doubleheader with Delaware scheduled for Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks are tied with the Bison for second place in the league standings after three weeks. They opened with a 3-1 series over Colgate, split with Army and most recently went 3-1 against Lafayette.
Julie Fernandez has been having a monster season at the plate, hitting .486 (52-107) with 13 doubles and 25 walks. With the loss of four-time Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Lisa Sweeney, Tiffany Curtis has assumed many of the duties for Lehigh in the circle. Curtis is 14-6 on the year with a 3.93 ERA. She also has 4 shutouts, while pitching 119.1 of her team's 250.0 innings this season.
Lehigh won the Patriot League regular season and tournament last year with a 38-18 record and placed eight players on all-league teams. Five of those all-league selections return in Curtis, Alex Cueva, Fernandez, Audra Wood and Jen Colquhoun.
Bucknell trails in the all-time series with Lehigh, 33-64. The two teams met in the 2009 Patriot League Tournament, and Lehigh took the 6-2 win. Bucknell had greater success during the regular season, however. The Bison went 2-2 against the Mountain Hawks for the first time since 1999 and became the only Patriot League team to defeat Lehigh twice. Bucknell also won game two of that series 9-0 in five innings, becoming the first Patriot League foe to shutout Lehigh since 2007 and the first league opponent to hand it a mercy-rule loss in more than five years.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell has just one more regular-season series after this weekend. The Bison will host Army May 1-2 at the Varsity Softball Field in the finale. The Patriot League Tournament is slated for the site of the highest seed May 13-15.
