Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army
Andreychik's First Career Shutout Helps Bucknell Baseball to Doubleheader Split with Army
4/21/2013 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell freshman right-hander Andrew Andreychik's four-hit shutout on Sunday afternoon at Depew Field helped the Bison baseball team to a doubleheader split with Army and avoid a sweep in the four-game weekend series. Bucknell defeated the Black Knights 5-0 in the series finale behind Andreychik's first career shutout after dropping the first game of the day by a 3-2 score in extra innings.
Andreychik (4-2) won his third consecutive start as he logged a career-high nine innings, struck out a career-high eight and walked just one hitter. He retired the first nine batters in order and held the Black Knights without a hit until the fifth inning as he became the second Bison to throw a shutout this season, joining Bryson Hough.
The shutout was kept intact in the fifth inning despite Army (19-18, 10-6 PL) loading the bases on a single, walk and hit by pitch. Justin Reece came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, but Andreychik thwarted the rally by getting him to line into a double play as second baseman Travis Clark caught the liner and flipped to shortstop Robb Scott for the third out.
Andreychik has now yielded just two runs and 15 hits over his last three starts, a span of 24.0 innings. His 2.89 ERA leads the team and he is now tied with Dan Goldstein for the team lead in wins.
Bucknell's offense gave Andreychik all the run support he would need early in the nightcap. The Bison scored an unearned run in the first inning and four more runs in the third before reliever Julian Larimer entered with two outs in the third and allowed just one hit the rest of the way.
Bucknell's first-inning run came in an unconventional way as No. 2 hitter Clark, who was 3-for-8 on the day, reached on an error. He then stole second and when the throw went into center field advanced to third. He then scampered home on a wild pitch, giving the Bison their first lead of the series.
The four-run third-inning rally all started with Justin Meier leading off with a hit by pitch. A Clark double to deep left plated him, while Joe Ogren's two-out, two-run double made it 4-0. Rob Krentzman followed with a single up the middle top bring home Ogren, cap the scoring, and knock Army starter Jack Verrill (0-2) from the game.
Bucknell (14-27, 8-8 Patriot League) scored its five runs on just four hits. Three of those hits came in a span of four hitters in the third inning as the Bison scored their most runs in a game against the Black Knights since 2011.
Game one of the doubleheader featured Bucknell's fourth extra-inning contest in its last five games as the scheduled seven-inning affair was extended to eight innings.
The score was tied 2-2 heading into the eighth when Army's Harold Earls led off with a double to right field. After a sac bunt moved him to second he came around to score what proved to be the winning run on a single to left by Mark McCants. Earls led off the 10th inning of Saturday's game two Black Knight victory with a triple and scored the go-ahead run then as well.
Army starter Alex Robinett (6-2) earned the win as he retired the final 11 Bison he faced. He struck out seven and allowed six hits and two runs, just one of which was earned. He registered his second complete game of the year.
Bison starter Dan Goldstein (4-5) also logged a complete game, but had to work out of a number of jams as Army had at least one baserunner in every inning. The Bucknell defense was able to erase one-out singles in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings with a double play and a pair of caught stealings to keep the Black Knights stuck on two runs.
Army took the early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. Reece had an RBI on a fielder's choice, while Earls drove in a run with a single to center.
Bucknell chipped away at its deficit with single runs in the third and fifth innings. Clark, Carter Bumgardner and Joe Ogren posted three consecutive singles in the third to load the bases. Bumgardner's single drove on the Bison's first run of the day. He later had an RBI ground out in the fifth that plated Matt Busch with an unearned run after a passed ball. That ground out started Robinett's streak of 11 consecutive retired to end the game.
Clark and Bumgardner were both 2-for-4 in game two as Bucknell posted six hits in the contest. It was Clark's team high-tying 13th multi-hit game this year, while Bumgardner's two RBIs brought his season total to a team-high 26.
The Bison have now played eight extra-inning games this year and are 2-6 in them.
Bucknell will enter the final weekend of Patriot League play with at least a three-game cushion on both Lehigh and Lafayette, the fifth- and sixth-place teams in the conference standings. The Bison currently sit in fourth place, one game behind third-place Navy. The top four teams qualify for the postseason tournament.
Bucknell will play its final non-league games of the regular season Tuesday when it travels to Olean, N.Y., for its annual doubleheader with St. Bonaventure. The Bison will return to Patriot League play next weekend when they host Lafayette in a four-game series to close the regular season. All four games will have a live audio broadcast on SportsJuice.com. Senior Day ceremonies will be held on Saturday.
Note: Andreychik's shutout marked the first by a Bison freshman since at least 1979.
