Softball to Take on First-Place Lehigh at Becker Field This Weekend

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell softball team is currently ranked third in the Patriot League, sitting just behind Lehigh and newcomer Boston University, but that could all change this weekend when the Bison welcome the first-place Mountain Hawks to Becker Field for a three-game series. Bucknell enters the weekend with a 14-16 overall record and a 6-3 mark in conference action, while Lehigh, the Patriot League preseason favorite, sits at 18-14 overall and 7-2 in league play, holding just a one-game lead over the Bison. The teams will meet for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and will return to action for a single game at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Live stats will be available, and all three contests are scheduled to be broadcast on WVBU 90.5 and BucknellBison.com with Danny Will on the call.

The Bison are off to their best start in Patriot League action since 2010, the year that they won their last Patriot League championship, and have come out on top in each of the three conference series they have played. Bucknell most recently earned a pair of wins at Lafayette last weekend, winning 7-3 and 12-0 on Saturday before dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker on Sunday. Freshman Jacee Almond hit 5-for-7 with one run and two RBI across both wins, while junior Kristen Zahn was 3-for-7 with four runs and one RBI in the two games. Sophomore Cindy Cherness earned the first win of the day in four innings of relief, while classmate Dana Nielsen pitched a complete game shutout in the second contest, allowing just two hits and striking out four batters in five innings.

Several Bison are among the Patriot League's leaders in a variety of categories, including junior Cydnee Sanders, who leads the team and the Patriot League in hitting and is batting .469, a number that ranks her tenth in the nation. Zahn ranks fifth in the conference with a .389 batting average, while Almond (.344) and junior Tori Robinson (.304) are also hitting above .300. Sanders ranks second (46) in hits and runs scored (27), while Zahn has compiled a .663 slugging percentage, good for the third in the Patriot League. In addition, senior Mallory Lyons, who ranks seventh in the nation in sacrifice hits per contest, leads all conference players with 11 sacrifice bunts. As a team, Bucknell ranks sixth nationally in doubles per game, averaging 1.73 per outing.

Three of Bucknell's pitchers rank in the top ten in the conference in ERA, led by Cherness' 2.14 average. Freshman Lara Bean ranks eighth with a 2.86 ERA, while Nielsen ranks tenth with her 3.45 average. Bean has the lowest opposing batting average in the Patriot League with a .206 mark, while Nielsen tops the conference with 83 strikeouts and Cherness' three saves are also a league-best.

Bucknell trails Lehigh 77-37 in a series that dates back to 1979, and the Mountain Hawks took a 3-1 win in the series that the two squads played in Lewisburg last season. Both of Lehigh's Patriot League losses came at the hands of Boston University last weekend, but the squad has played a trio of games since then, splitting a doubleheader with Marist on Tuesday and dropping a 9-5 decision to Fordham on Wednesday.

The Mountain Hawks are led offensively by Morgan Decker, who is hitting .395 and leads the league in both slugging percentage (.698) and on-base percentage (.522). Alexis Watanabe (.366), Ashley Cole (.354), Emma Capetz (.345) and MacKenzie Velasquez (.312) are all hitting above .300, and Lehigh leads the conference with 16 home runs. Like Bucknell, three of Lehigh's pitchers rank in the top ten in the Patriot League in ERA, led by Christine Campbell's 2.69 mark. Campbell has compiled a 7-5 record in 16 appearances.

After the weekend series, Bucknell will make the short trip to Penn State on Wednesday for a doubleheader that is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The Bison will take a break from Patriot League action next weekend, but will play a three-game series against Coppin State at home.