Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's MacLean Collects Second Patriot League Pitcher of the Week Honor
4/26/2010 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell softball's Alex MacLean (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) collected her second career Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday after going undefeated with a five-inning no-hitter last week. The freshman also finished her week with a 0.58 ERA and a win over Patriot League foe Lehigh.
Making her first appearance of the week against La Salle on Wednesday, MacLean became the first Bison pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Hall of Famer Sharon Nichols in 1991. She also struck out six Explorers in 5.0 innings before the game was called due to lightning. Despite MacLean's strong outing, the game ended in a scoreless tie.
MacLean picked up where she left off as Bucknell traveled to Lehigh for the weekend set. Against the Mountain Hawks, she worked her way to a 5-1 victory and struck out a career-best eight batters. In a total of 12.0 innings of work last week, MacLean allowed just one run on seven hits while opponents hit a mere .159 against her.
MacLean has played a major role in Bucknell's success this season. She leads the team in complete games (9), ERA (2.61) and strikeouts (55) while working her way to an 8-1 record. MacLean's lone loss came in just her first appearance of the season back in March. She also was named the league's top pitcher on March 29 after defeating Coppin State with her second consecutive game without an earned run.
The Bison are 22-13-1 overall and 9-5 in the Patriot League this year. Bucknell recently claimed its 500th win in program history with a 3-2 victory over La Salle in the first game of the teams' doubleheader. The Orange and Blue's league tally places them in a second-place tie with Lehigh in the standings with six games remaining in the regular season. Two of those contests will come against the Mountain Hawks as they make up last weekend's rained-out doubleheader at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 28 in Bethlehem, Pa.
