First-Place Bucknell Baseball Hits Road to Take on Second-Place Army

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team will look to continue its strong play this weekend as the Bison will travel to West Point, N.Y., to square off against Army. The Bison have won nine of their last 10 games and are 7-1 in Patriot League play, while the Black Knights are also hot, having swept last weekend's Patriot League series from Lafayette. When the two teams meet this weekend first place in the Patriot League will be on the line as Bucknell enters with a 1.5-game lead in the standings.

The Bison trail in the all-time series against Army 64-43 with the Black Knights winning seven of the last eight meetings over the last two years.

This weekend's series continues a stretch of 10 consecutive games away from Depew Field for Bucknell. The Bison opened the 10-game span with a 4-1 victory at Binghamton this past Tuesday.

Bucknell, which swept Navy in its first Patriot League series of the year and then claimed three of four last weekend against Lehigh, has received both solid hitting (.286 batting average) and strong pitching (1.32 ERA) during its recent hot spell of nine wins in 10 games. Brett Smith (.500), Rob Krentzman (.385), Anthony Gingerelli (.379), Greg Wasikowski (.370) and Corey Furman (.343) are all hitting over .300 during the last 10 games, while seven of the eight pitchers to appear on the mound have an ERA under 2.00.

Opponents have registered just 48 hits in 82.0 innings over the last 10 games.

While Bucknell's starters have an ERA of 1.44 over the last 10 games, the Bison bullpen has been especially effective with a 0.68 ERA. In fact, the bullpen has yielded just one earned run in its last 22.2 innings. Freshman lefty Mike Castellani has been especially productive as he will enter the Army series having pitched 20.0 consecutive scoreless innings. He has yielded just six hits over his last 10 appearances (20.0 IP).

Sophomore starter Andrew Andreychik has been just as strong as Castellani. He recently came one out shy of pitching his fourth consecutive shutout as a two-out RBI in the seventh inning by Lehigh snapped his streak of 26.1 consecutive scoreless innings. Andreychik's three shutouts this year are a program single-season record, while his four career blankings place him one away from that standard.

Furman enters the weekend series on an eight-game hitting streak, while Gingerelli (seven games), Wasikowski (six games) and Smith (five) also carry lengthy hitting streaks into the Army series.

Bucknell has the top two hitters in the Patriot League – Gingerelli (.382) and Furman (.370) – and four of the top eight as Smith (.333) and Ogren (.330) rank seventh and eighth, respectively.

Army's bats are anchored by Jon Crucitti who is batting .330 and leads the team with 36 hits. Kris Lindner's .356 batting average top the team, while Patrick Mescher leads the squad with 21 RBIs and three home runs. Nick Dignacco is 5-1 with 1.64 ERA, and one shutout on the season, while Gunnar Carroll is 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA. The Black Knights are hitting .258 as a team and own a 2.86 ERA.

As is typical for Patriot League series, doubleheaders will be played on both Saturday and Sunday. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for noon, followed by a 1 p.m. start on Sunday. Game one each day will be seven innings, while game two will be a nine-inning affair. A live audio broadcast of Saturday's doubleheader will be available via goARMYsports.com, while Sunday's doubleheader will have a live video broadcast.

Bucknell Baseball's 2014 Weekly Awards
Patriot League Player of the Week: Corey Furman (March 4, March 10), Brett Smith (April 1), Anthony Gingerelli (April 7)
Patriot League Pitcher of the Week: Andrew Andreychik (March 24, April 1)
Bison Athlete of the Week: Andrew Andreychik (March 24, April 1)