Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Richmond
Late Rally Falls Short as Bucknell Baseball Drops 4-2 Decision at Richmond
2/25/2011 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. - Matt Lamore was 3-for-4 with a home run and Bucknell loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth inning, but the Bison baseball team lost to Richmond by a 4-2 score Friday afternoon at windy Pitt Field. The game was still in doubt until the final batter in the top of the ninth, when Travis Clark lined into a game-ending double play.
Richmond (3-3) led 4-2 from the bottom of the fourth inning on. The Bison, who sent no more than five hitters to the plate in any inning, loaded the bases in the top of the ninth on a leadoff single by cleanup hitter Scott Reed, a hit by pitch and then a fielder's choice throwing error. That brought pinch hitter Clark up to the plate with the tying runs in scoring position. He jumped on the first pitch and hit it hard, but right to the third baseman Nick Poulos, who stepped on third to double off the runner and end the game.
Jacob Mayers (1-0) earned the complete-game victory for Richmond, yielding five hits and two runs while striking out four and walking one.
Bucknell (0-5) received a solid pitching performance from its three hurlers, especially reliever Alex Cillo. The junior struck out four and allowed just two hits and no runs in 2.2 innings of work after entering the game one batter into the sixth inning.
Trey Frahler (0-2) started on the mound for the Bison and pitched five-plus innings, yielding seven hits and four runs while striking out five and walking a pair. Three of the four runs scored off Frahler were unearned as a two-out error in the fourth led to what proved to be the winning runs.
Bucknell went on top early as Bob Donato led off the game with a solo home run, marking the second straight game he has done that. Lamore, who fell a triple shy of the cycle, followed with a one-out solo home run in the second. Lamore's fourth-inning single and seventh-inning double were the only other hits the Bison could manage against Mayers until Reed's leadoff single in the ninth.
Three of Richmond's nine hits came in its three-run fourth inning. A Poulos single put runners on first and second with ninth-place hitter Matt Zink coming up. An error allowed the tying run to score, while two batters later Mike Mergenthaler hit a tiebreaking two-run single to left, making the score 4-2.
Bucknell and Richmond will square off Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in game two of their three-game weekend series.
