Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Softball Looks to Turn the Corner vs. La Salle, Hits the Road for Lehigh
4/3/2012 8:00:00 AM | Softball
April 3, 2012
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell softball welcomes its only non-conference opponent to Becker Field on Wednesday when it hosts La Salle for a doubleheader at 3:30 p.m. The Bison will be looking to snap a 10-game winless streak against the Explorers as the games will be broadcast live on WVBU 90.5 FM and online at SportsJuice.com. Bucknell will then wrap up its week with a four-game series at Lehigh April 7-8.
Bucknell (5-18, 0-4 PL) suffered its second consecutive sweep to Colgate last weekend and saw its team batting average drop to .194. That does not mean that the Patriot League series was without its highlights, however. Alex MacLean (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) struck out a career-best 10 Raiders in game two. The junior is the first Bison with 10 or more strikeouts since Christie Wiest recorded 11 against Lafayette on April 1, 2007. MacLean is now the third straight Bison to strike out at least 10 batters and still take the loss. Wiest lost that meeting with the Leopards 5-3, while Brandi Porter lost 4-3 in 11.1 innings despite striking out 17 against Lafayette on April 13, 2002. The last Bison to strike out at least 10 foes and earn the win was Allison Love when she retired 11 on strikes in a 4-3 victory over Colgate on April 23, 1994.
MacLean maintained her position in fourth on Bucknell's all-time strikeouts list with 247. Bridget Gates (Milford, Conn./Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Lauralton Hall) also took a strong hold of sixth on the career list with 191. Gates had six strikeouts in each of her two appearances against the Raiders last weekend, setting a season high. Both MacLean and Gates now have 41 strikeouts this season.
Offensively, Mary Horton (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) took over the team lead in walks. The junior drew three base-on-balls in game one against Colgate and five across all four contests. That brought her season total to 10. Horton entered the season with just 12 career walks, including a personal-best nine as a freshman.
In that game with the Raiders in which she drew three walks, Horton was also 1-for-1 with a run and RBI at the plate. Meredith Dickson (Fogelsville, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) had her own perfect run offensively in game four. The senior was 3-for-3 with three singles in the finale. Over the course of the Colgate series, Dickson tallied five of the team's 15 hits, going 5-for-13 (.385) on the weekend. She continues to lead the team in hitting for the season at .350.
Bucknell's first opponent for the week will be La Salle (3-23), which is also struggling offensively this season. The Explorers enter the week having lost their last 13 outings and hitting .182 as a team. Before making the trip to Lewisburg, they will host Monmouth in a doubleheader on Tuesday.
The Bison earned their first win in series history over the Explorers in 2010. Bucknell secured a 3-2 victory in game one of that doubleheader two years ago, then played to a 0-0 tie before the second game was called due to lightning. MacLean threw Bucknell's first no-hitter since 1991 in the scoreless tie. The Bison and the Explorers split the 2011 doubleheader with Bucknell taking a 4-1 (6 inn.) win and a 1-0 loss. That brought the series record to 6-2-1 in favor of La Salle.
Bucknell will cap off the week of play with a tough series at Lehigh this weekend. The Mountain Hawks open their week with a 19-13 record overall and a 4-0 mark after sweeping Lafayette. When it kicked off Patriot League play last weekend, Lehigh outscored the Leopards 35-4. Emily Bausher, who has been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week each of the last three voting periods, went 2-0 with two shutouts, 18 strikeouts and four hits allowed to Lafayette.
Five of Lehigh's six 2011 All-Patriot League Team selections - Julie Fernandez, Jennifer Colquhoun, Liz Lucas, Rebecca Bliss and Audra Wood - return this spring. The solid core of players led the Mountain Hawks to the Patriot League Tournament title as the No. 2 seed a year ago when they finished 33-23 overall and 14-6 in conference play.
Bucknell and Lehigh have squared off 106 times in the series, and the Mountain Hawks have a 70-36 advantage. That lead grew last year when Lehigh won three of four games. Although Alison Ford drilled two home runs on the first day of play, the Mountain Hawks still came away with 2-1 and 7-5 victories. Lehigh then opened that Sunday's action with a 3-1 win before Bucknell came back for a 5-3 win after a game-changing fielding error from the Mountain Hawks. The dropped infield pop-up allowed the Bison to score two runs and take their first lead of the series.
Bucknell will head into mid-April with a pair of New York opponents on the schedule. The Bison will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on April 12 for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader. They will then host Army April 14-15 at Becker Field with play beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.
