Softball Heads South for Three-Day UNC Wilmington Beach Bash

Tournament Schedule:
Friday, Feb. 28
- vs. Brown, 10 a.m.
- vs. UNC Greensboro, 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 1
- vs. Brown, 11:30 a.m.
- vs. UNC Wilmington, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 2
- vs. UNC Greensboro, 9 a.m.

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell softball team returns to action this weekend after a three-week lull, heading south to Wilmington, N.C. to compete in the UNCW Beach Bash. Bucknell will play five games on the newly-renovated Boseman Field over the course of the three-day tournament, beginning with a 10 a.m. contest against Brown on Friday, Feb. 28. The Bison will meet the Bears again on Saturday morning, and will also play two contests against UNC Greensboro and one against the host school, UNC Wilmington, over the course of the weekend. Live stats will be available for all five games.

Bucknell opened its 2014 season at the Cleveland State University Dome Tournament on Feb. 8 and 9, playing to a 1-3 record over the course of the two-day competition. After dropping two tight decisions on the first day of the tournament, falling 1-0 to Cleveland State and 11-10 in eight innings to Canisius, Bucknell earned a 2-0 victory over Bowling Green on Sunday morning, before wrapping up the weekend with a 4-3 loss to Robert Morris. The tournament was full of promise for the focused Bison squad, and featured impressive offensive production as well as strong efforts by a young pitching staff.

Junior Cydnee Sanders, a 2014 Preseason All-Patriot League selection, anchored Bucknell's defense at shortstop and had its most impressive offensive performance of the tournament, going 5-for-12 with three runs and two RBI. Freshman Jacee Almond and junior Kristen Zahn proved to be quite the power-hitting duo, combining for five home runs and driving in four runs apiece. Almond, who went 3-for-3 against Canisius while knocking two out of the park, also scored five runs and compiled a Patriot League-leading 1.182 slugging percentage, earning her the conference's first Rookie of the Week award of the 2014 season.

Sophomores Amanda Fazio, also a 2014 Preseason All-Patriot League pick, and Dana Nielsen welcomed rookie Lara Bean to the pitching rotation on opening weekend, and all three Bison combined for an impressive 2.59 ERA, well below the number of 3.25 put up by their opponents. Bean went 1-1 on the weekend, earning a victory in her first career start, and allowed just four hits and one earned run in 11.1 innings pitched, finishing the tournament with a 0.62 ERA. Fazio saw action in 11.0 innings, and combined with Nielsen and Bean for 23 strikeouts.

Brown, Bucknell's first opponent of the weekend, has yet to compete this season, but the squad finished the 2013 campaign with a 10-28 overall record and a 4-16 mark in the Ivy League. Offensively, the Bears were led by Trista Chavez, an Honorable Mention All-Ivy selection in 2013, who led knocked in a team-high 32 RBI while putting up a .330 batting average, registering 33 hits in 100 at-bats. Jessica Cherness, the older sister of Bucknell sophomore Cindy Cherness, is Brown's most proven pitcher, winning half of its games in 2013 and compiling a 5.72 ERA.

UNC Greensboro has played to a 4-7 record in 2014 and is coming off of a 2-2 weekend at the Spartan Classic, earning wins over Army (6-1) and Hampton (10-2, 5 innings). The Spartans are led by Katelyn Bedwell, who is hitting .406 with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI, while Allison Geiner is averaging .382 with 13 hits and eight runs scored. Raeanne Hanks has earned all four of UNC Greensboro's wins in the circle, and has made eight starts in 11 games, compiling a 4.98 ERA in 66.0 innings pitched.

UNC Wilmington, the host school, has seen plenty of action in February, and enters the weekend with a 5-6 record. The Seahawks played to a 1-3 record at the Gamecock Invitational last weekend, defeating Gardner-Webb (12-2), and falling to Georgetown (7-2), Michigan State (5-2) and South Carolina (2-1). Brittany Gamby (.440) and Nella Chamblee (.409) are both hitting over .400, and Gamby leads UNC Wilmington with 11 hits. Jessica Rappe has scored a team-high eight runs, while Chamblee and Casey Shue have each batted in six. Peyton Jordan and Casey Rowland are doing most of the work in the circle for the Seahawks, and have combined for 43 strikeouts and a 2.46 ERA.

This weekend's tournament will prepare the Bison for their rapidly approaching spring break competition, the Rebel Games in Winter Haven, Fla. Bucknell will squeeze ten contests into a six-day time span in sunny Florida, and its first game, a 12 p.m. match-up with Akron, is scheduled for Sunday, March 9.