Bucknell University
Army
Bucknell Baseball Splits PL Tournament Doubleheader at Army, Will Face Black Knights in Deciding Third Game Sunday
5/15/2010 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2010
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Doug Shribman tied a Patriot League Tournament record with three home runs, and the fourth-seeded Bucknell baseball team hit six overall, as it split the first two games of a best-of-three series against top-seeded Army Saturday at Doubleday Field. The Bison won game one 11-9 behind a pair of home runs from Shribman and an eighth-inning two-run shot by B.J. LaRosa. Bucknell led game two 4-1 entering the eighth inning, but the Black Knights plated five runs in the frame en route to a 6-4 win, forcing Sunday afternoon's game three.
The winner of this weekend's three-game series will face the winner of the other semifinal series between Holy Cross and Lehigh. The Crusaders and Mountain Hawks split their two games on Saturday, meaning they will play a deciding third game Sunday as well.
Bucknell (22-32) hit plenty of milestone home runs on Saturday. Andrew Brouse started the barrage with a solo home run leading off the seventh inning of game one, tying the Patriot League career record with the 28th of his four-year Bison career. It also briefly gave him the Bucknell and Patriot League single-season standard of 15. However, Shribman immediately followed with the first of his two home runs in game one, which tied Brouse for the single-season records. His fourth-inning home run in game two upped his season figure to 16, surpassing Brouse. Additionally, LaRosa hit a home run in both ends of the doubleheader, equaling his regular-season total in a span of five innings. Bucknell's six home runs Saturday moved the team total to 61, a new Patriot League record, surpassing the 57 the 2009 Army squad hit.
Both Bucknell and Army (28-16) had their offenses in gear in game one despite Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Matt Fouch starting for the Black Knights and Second Team All-Patriot League selection Dylan Seeley getting the nod for the Bison. Both teams recorded 18 hits in the contest, although the score was just 2-2 after five innings of play.
Bucknell did have its leadoff runner reach base in seven of the nine innings, and in six of those instances it proceeded to score. Army was nearly as successful with six of nine leadoff hitters reaching base and four coming around to score.
Every inning in which the visiting Bison scored, Army followed with runs, except the ninth. Bucknell scored single runs in the first and fourth innings with the Black Knights knotting the score in the bottom half of each frame.
The Bison finally put four runs on the board in the sixth when they batted around against Fouch. Brouse led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Shribman. Drew Constable then singled through the left side, scoring Patriot League Player of the Year Brouse. Ben Koenigsfeld's throw missed the cutoff man and rolled into foul territory, allowing Shribman to score as well. A David Duffett sac fly and a single up the middle by Ben Allen, who was 3-for-5 in game one and had four hits on the day, rounded out the scoring.
Army threatened to tie the score in the bottom of the sixth as Kevin McKague led off with a single and Koenigsfeld followed with a two-run home run to right-center. Seeley then got two of the next three hitters out, but a two-out RBI single by Steve May knocked him from the game and made the score 6-5. Matt Lamore came on in relief and got the final out in the inning.
Back-to-back home runs by Brouse and Shribman leading off the seventh made it 8-5 and knocked Fouch out of the game, having yielded 15 hits and eight runs, all earned.
The Black Knights drew even once again in the bottom of the seventh with three runs, the final two on a two-out RBI single by ninth-place hitter David Darnell.
The see-saw affair, during which Bucknell never trailed, although the score was tied on three different occasions (1-1, 2-2, 8-8), continued in the eighth as a home run to right center by LaRosa off reliever Chris Simpkins (1-1) staked the Bison to a 10-8 advantage and proved to be the winning runs.
Army closed to within 10-9 with a run in the eighth, but Shribman provided an insurance run with his solo homer leading off the ninth that landed in nearly the same spot over the left-field wall as his first home run. Shribman finished game one 4-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles and a pair of RBIs.
Steve Carlin (3-4), who pitched the final 2.2 innings, struck out the first two hitters he faced in the ninth and allowed only a single in the frame to pick up the victory. He yielded just three hits and one run after entering the game one out into the seventh.
Every hitter in the Bison lineup picked up at least one hit, while eight of the nine drove in at least one run. In addition to multi-hit outings by Allen and Shribman, Brouse posted three hits, while Ben Yoder and Constable each had a pair.
May and McKague each had three hits for Army, while Koenigsfeld was 4-for-4 with three RBIs.
Game two had a completely different tempo than the high-scoring game one. Bucknell starter Trey Frahler (4-6) carried a one-hitter into the eighth inning and retired 14 straight Black Knights at one point.
Army starter Koenigsfeld was knocked from the mound after four innings of play after LaRosa tagged him for a solo home run in the third and Shribman blasted his third home run of the day in the fourth, giving the Bison a 3-1 advantage.
Bucknell still led 4-1 entering the top of the eighth and Frahler was sailing, having allowed just two baserunners since the second. However, four of the first five hitters in the eighth reached, culminating in a three-run home run by First Team All-Patriot League shortstop Clint Moore, who had been 0-for-8 on the day up until that point. McKague followed with a solo home run, making it 6-4 and forcing Bison head coach Gene Depew to turn to his bullpen. Daniel Hart came in and retired the final two hitters in the inning and did not allow Army to tack on any insurance runs in the top of the ninth.
Bucknell had a chance to end the series in the bottom of the ninth in its final at bat when Yoder singled to left and Brouse drew a one-out walk, bringing the powerful Shribman to the plate with one out, representing the go-ahead run. The first baseman took a big cut and just missed it, hitting a fly ball to short left field. Constable, who had three hits in game two and was the only Bison player with a pair of multi-hit outings Saturday, then grounded out, ending the game.
The Bison will be hoping for déjà vu on Sunday. Two years ago fourth-seeded Bucknell defeated the top-seeded Black Knights 1-0 in a deciding third game of a first-round Patriot League Tournament series at Doubleday Field. First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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