Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Baseball Hosts Lehigh in Key Patriot League Series this Weekend
4/23/2010 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 23, 2010
Saturday
Game 1: Bucknell vs. Lehigh (GameTracker
)
Game 2: Bucknell vs. Lehigh (GameTracker)
Sunday
Game 1: Bucknell vs. Lehigh (GameTracker)
Game 2: Bucknell vs. Lehigh (GameTracker)
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team will be home for a third consecutive weekend as it hosts Lehigh in a four-game series Saturday and Sunday at Depew Field. First pitch both days is slated for noon. Seven Bison seniors will be recognized during Senior Day ceremonies on Saturday.
Bucknell, which can clinch a playoff spot this weekend, and Lehigh enter the weekend tied for third in the Patriot League standings with matching 6-6 records. The top two teams in the Patriot League host first-round postseason series, while the top four squads in the six-team league qualify for the Patriot League Tournament.
Bucknell Baseball Notebook (18-25, 6-6 PL)
• Bucknell is 18-25 this year and 5-6 at Depew Field. The Bison have won four of their last five home contests and are looking to finish above .500 at home for the sixth time in the last eight years.
• Bucknell is in the midst of a stretch where it is playing 14 of 17 games at home. The Bison are 6-6 over the first 12 games of that span. Bucknell will play its next five games at home before wrapping up the regular season with four contests at first-place Army.
• Interestingly, Bucknell has not had a game cancelled or postponed this year. The only games affected by weather were the season's opening series against VMI, which was moved to a high school field in southern Virginia. If the final nine games on the schedule are played, Bucknell will have 52 games played, four shy of its program record of 56 from 2008. This past Wednesday's contest against Maryland Eastern Shore was stopped due to lightning, but only after it was an official game (bottom of the 7th inning).
• Through 43 games, Bucknell has the exact same batting average (.314) and ERA (6.23) as its opponents. However, the Bison have outscored their opponents by 15 runs (292-277).
• Bucknell enters the weekend four doubles and two home runs shy of equaling team program records. The 1997 Bison hit 50 home runs, while the 2008 Bucknell squad collected 96 doubles.
• With two wins this weekend Bucknell will post its third consecutive 20-win season. The Bison have not won 20 in at least three straight years since accomplishing the feat six consecutive seasons from 1996 to 2001.
• Andrew Brouse broke the school record for career home runs with a solo shot Tuesday at St. Bonaventure. He added on to his own record with another home run Wednesday vs. Maryland Eastern Shore. He now has 26 career home runs, including a career-high 13 this year. He is one shy of equaling Frank Fresconi's single-season record and is the first player in Bison history to have two double-figure home runs seasons.
• Bob Donato is one of five Bison with at least 10 doubles this season. His 15 doubles lead the team and tie him for fourth place on the Bucknell single-season list. Twenty of his 47 hits have gone for extra bases.
• Bucknell continues to be fielding the ball at an unprecedented clip this year. The Bison have committed 44 errors and own a .971 fielding percentage. Their opponents have committed 65 errors for a .958 fielding percentage. Bucknell's best-ever fielding percentage was .960 by the 2001 team that won a Patriot League title.
• Ben Allen brings a season-high nine-game hitting streak into this weekend's series. He has three multi-hit games during that span and has seen his average go from .304 to .319. Allen, who has started 126 consecutive games at shortstop, has at least one hit in 36 of 43 games this year and has gone back-to-back games without a hit just once.
• Bucknell hitters have had a propensity to be hit by pitches this year. The Bison have reached base via the bit by pitch 42 times, compared to 20 by their opponents. Andrew Brouse leads the way with 13 hit by pitches.
• Nine different pitchers have earned at least one win for the Bison this year. High school teammates Trey Frahler and Jack Boehm are tied for the team lead with four. Frahler now has 11 victories in his career, three shy of 10th place in program history.
• Senior relievers Michael Dallanegra (2.60) and Andrew Clarke (2.75) own the two best ERAs on the team. That duo has yielded just 22 hits in 37.0 innings of work this year.
• Freshman right-hander Marcus Garone is 2-0 on the season and has picked up wins in each of his last two starts (Towson, Maryland Eastern Shore). In his three starts, Garone has pitched 10.1 innings and yielded just four earned runs for an ERA of 3.48.
• Ben Allen recently became the fourth player in program history with 200 career hits. He is just 16 shy of Tyler Prout's all-time record of 217.
• Bucknell's seven seniors that will be honored during Saturday's Senior Day ceremonies are: Ben Allen, Andrew Brouse, Andrew Clarke, Michael Dallanegra, Kevin Drozin, B.J. LaRosa and Ben Yoder.
Bucknell 2010 Awards/Honors
• Patriot League Player of the Week
B. J. LaRosa (3/15), Andrew Brouse (3/22), Ben Yoder (4/19)
• Patriot League Pitcher of the Week
Dylan Seeley (3/22)
• Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week
B.J. LaRosa (3/15)
Bucknell vs. Lehigh
• Bucknell and Lehigh have played 148 times with the Bison holding a slight 75-73 edge.
• Bucknell won three of four meetings at Lehigh last year.
• Each of the last four years the visiting team has won the four-game series 3-1.
About Lehigh
• Lehigh has been a streaky team of late. The Mountain Hawks posted a six-game winning streak in early April, but have now lost six in a row to fall to 14-22 on the season and 6-6 in Patriot League play.
• Lehigh's strength is its pitching as it owns a 5.75 team ERA and six of its regular pitchers possess ERAs below 6.00. Twelve of the Mountain Hawks' four wins have come from four pitchers.
Up Next
• Bucknell will conclude its home campaign Tuesday afternoon with a single game against Keystone at 3:30 p.m. Christy Mathewson, one of Bucknell's most famous alums and a former Bison baseball player, graduated from Keystone when it was still a high school, prior to enrolling at Bucknell.
