Bucknell University Athletics
Rebel Spring Games Await Bucknell Softball Down South
3/8/2012 7:00:00 AM | Softball
March 8, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell softball is eager to get back to work with a 10-game stand at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., March 10-16 after a rocky showing at last weekend's Marshall Invitational. The Bison will take on nine teams over the week-long spring break trip, and live stats on GameTracker will be available for all 10 contests. Bucknell (2-5) will also play its 1,200th game in program history when it faces Columbia on Tuesday.
Among those on the opponent list will be Saint Peter's, which Bucknell faced at the 2011 Rebel Spring Games with great success. The Bison defeated the Peahens 8-0 in six innings last spring. Other repeat foes from a year ago include Fairleigh Dickinson, Youngstown State and Columbia.
Saturday, March 10:
- 9 a.m. vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (LIVE STATS 
) – Bucknell is 1-2 all-time against the Knights. When the two squads met in Kissimmee last year, Fairleigh Dickinson came away with a 2-1 victory, with everyone scoring their runs in the sixth inning. The Knights are outscoring their 2012 opponents at a 57-17 clip, keeping them undefeated through their first six games.
- 11 a.m. vs. Sacred Heart (LIVE STATS ) – The only other meeting between the Bison and the Pioneers came at the 2009 Rebel Spring Games where Sacred Heart won 3-1. Seven different Bison registered one hit in the contest. When the two teams meet for the second time in series history, the Pioneers will be at the tail end of their trip while the Bison will just be starting theirs. Already Sacred Heart has a 14-0 win over Holy Cross. They played to a 7-0 loss to another Patriot League school, Lehigh, as well.
Sunday, March 11:
- 3 p.m. vs. Fairfield (LIVE STATS ) – Bucknell will be looking for its first-ever win against Fairfield when they play on Sunday. The Bison are 0-2 against the Stags, including a 4-3 loss at the 2004 Rebel Spring Games, which was the last time they met. Fairfield has been shut out three times this year. That includes each of their last two contests where they lost 8-0 to Providence and 2-0 at Towson.
- 5 p.m. vs. Youngstown State (LIVE STATS ) – The winner of the first game between the Bison and the Penguins will take the series lead as they are currently tied 4-4. Youngstown State took the 9-2 decision at last year's Rebel Spring Games after scoring eight unanswered runs. The Penguins are now 5-2 in 2012 with wins in their last three games. Four different pitchers have at least one win and one of them has pitched 15 innings yet. Bucknell and Youngstown State will meet a second time in Florida, at 11 a.m. next Friday.
Tuesday, March 13:
- 1 p.m. vs. Howard (LIVE STATS ) – It will be a Bison vs. Bison matchup when these two teams meet. Their last head-to-head came at the 2007 UMBC Dawg Pound Classic, and Howard took the 8-5 win. In 2012, Howard is 1-11 to date and has been outscored 130-37 over those 12 games. Its lone victory came 7-4 at George Mason.
- 3 p.m. vs. Columbia (LIVE STATS ) – Of Bucknell's nine foes at this year's Rebel Spring Games, none has played the Bison more than Columbia. The Lions are 8-2 all-time against the Bison. They out-hit Bucknell 13-3 when they met in Florida last spring and ultimately took the 6-1 victory. This season, Columbia has started its campaign 1-3. Only one of its pitchers has an ERA of less than 15.00. Brooke Darling comes in with the team's lone victory and a 4.10 earned run average.
Thursday, March 15:
- 9 a.m. vs. Nebraska-Omaha (LIVE STATS ) – It will be the first-ever meeting between the Bison and the Mavs on Thursday. At 4-6 this season, everything about the Mavs points to a nearly .500 mark. They are hitting .295 at the plate, while opponents come in at .282. Nebraska-Omaha also has a slight edge in ERA, 2.67 to 3.02 for foes.
- 11 a.m. vs. Saint Peter's (LIVE STATS ) – When Bucknell defeated Saint Peter's last spring, they did it with a six-inning shutout to earn a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series. Ten Bison went to the plate in the third inning and the Bison scored four runs on just four hits to put them in control. This spring, the Peahens have been shut out three times and have been outscored 59-6. They are hitting .144 as a team compared to their opponents' .455, which partly explains their 0-7 record.
Friday, March 16:
- 9 a.m. vs. Wagner (LIVE STATS ) – Bucknell has a 3-1 edge in the series with the Seahawks, but the last contest did not go in the Bison's favor. Wagner won 13-3 in six innings, scoring on just nine hits. It put up at least one run in all six frames. Like Saint Peter's, Wagner is also looking for its first win of the season after dropping its first five games. It has been shut out twice to date and has been outscored 31-11.
- 11 a.m. vs. Youngstown State (LIVE STATS )
Bucknell's own 2012 campaign has seen its shares of ups and downs. After going 2-1 at the Elon Phoenix Softball Clash, the Bison finished 0-4 at last weekend's Marshall Invitational. Through their first seven games of the season, the Bison have looked to their underclassmen for much of its offensive production. Kristen Zahn (Readington, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) leads the team batting average with a .357 (5-14) mark. She, along with fellow freshmen Cydnee Sanders (Magnolia, Texas/Magnolia West), Colie Escobar (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) and Tori Robinson (Corona, Calif./Corona Centennial) account for 11 of the team's 16 runs so far. The freshman and sophomore classes have also claimed nearly 64 percent of Bucknell's RBI and 65 percent of its hits.
That Sanders leads Bucknell in runs scored (5) should not be a surprise as the rookie reached base safely in each of her first five appearances. The streak came with a mix of hits, walks and opponent errors. It ended with a pair of strikeouts against Marshall last Sunday.
While Bucknell's youngsters have been doing much of the damage, senior Meredith Dickson (Fogelsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) did her part at the Marshall Invite. The veteran hit .333 and was responsible for the team's lone extra-base hit. Dickson doubled in the first game against the Thundering Herd, which turned out to be her only plate appearance in the contest.
After its 10-game southern swing, Bucknell will play next at Delaware State's Sean Savage Epilepsy Awareness Tournament March 24-25. The Bison will take on Cornell and the host Hornets in Dover, Del.
