Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Doubleheader Split with Lafayette Clinches PL Tournament Berth for Bucknell Baseball
4/27/2013 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 27, 2013
| BUY PHOTOS
LEWISBURG, Pa. -The Bucknell baseball team clinched its fifth Patriot League Tournament berth in the last six years when it defeated Lafayette by a 4-0 score in game one of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at sunny Depew Field. The Bison scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and Bryson Hough recorded his second shutout of the season en route to the victory.
Lafayette (8-36, 5-13 PL) came back to win a back-and-forth game two by a 4-3 score.
With Saturday's doubleheader split, Bucknell (15-30, 9-9 PL) can still finish as high as tied for second in the Patriot League standings, pending Saturday afternoon's Army-Holy Cross game two. However, thanks to tiebreakers, the Bison can finish no higher than the No. 3 seed in the upcoming four-team postseason tournament.
Bucknell and Lafayette combined for six hits and four errors in game one and the Bison scored all their runs in the fourth inning when the Leopards allowed Rob Krentzman to reach on a dropped third strike and a fly ball off the bat of Joe Ogren was dropped, effectively giving Bucknell five outs in the frame.
The Bison took advantage of the extra opportunities, scoring their first two runs on safety squeeze plays. Anthony Gingerelli and Robb Scott both laid down bunts that allowed runs to score from third, while Corey Furman's hard-hit single that handcuffed the second baseman plated the final two runs of the frame.
Lafayette starter Michael Massa (2-6) recorded four strikeouts in that fourth inning, but Bucknell batted around against him. He pitched a complete game and struck out seven overall, but walked three.
Hough logged his third complete game of the season as he improved to 3-5. He allowed just one hit over the first five innings of the seven-inning contest and struck out four while walking just one. The Leopards had just two baserunners reach second base and none reached third base. It marked the second straight Patriot League game shutout for the Bison, who saw Andrew Andreychik shut out Army in the final game of last weekend's series.
Lafayette scored single runs in the second, third, fifth and seventh innings off Bucknell starter Dan Weigel (2-7) in game two as it recorded 12 hits off the left-hander. Weigel, who recorded his second consecutive nine-inning outing, stranded nine Lafayette hitters on the basepaths and one run was unearned, but he allowed at least two baserunners in six of the nine innings. Only twice did he allow the leadoff hitter to reach, but both times they scored.
Bucknell tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Carter Bumgardner up the middle, but Lafayette plated the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh when Andrew Santomauro led off with a single and later scored on a one-out single by Zach Gross.
The Bison took the early 2-0 lead in the second game as Furman led off with a single to left center. Travis Clark followed with his first triple of the season to knock him in. Bumgardner, who has a team-high 28 RBIs, drove him in with a ground out to second.
Connor Ortolf (1-4) earned his first win of the year for Lafayette by pitching 7.0 innings and allowing six hits and three runs while striking out four. Kevin Casey, the starting second baseman in game one, retired six of the seven hitters he faced over the final two innings to pick up his first save of the year.
Furman and Ogren each had two hits in the nightcap for Bucknell. Furman, who lifted his season average to .305, was 3-for-7 with one run and two RBIs in the doubleheader. Clark had hits in both ends of the twinbill to give him a team-best three-game hitting streak.
Bucknell and Lafayette will wrap up the series Sunday with another doubleheader at noon at Depew Field. First pitch is noon. Bison head track & field/cross country coach Kevin Donner is slated to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. A live audio broadcast of both games can be heard on SportsJuice.com.
