Bucknell University Athletics
Baseball's Patriot League Championship Series vs. Lehigh Begins Friday at Depew Field
5/14/2014 4:38:00 PM | Baseball
About the Patriot League Tournament
• Top-seeded Bucknell advanced to this week's Patriot League Championship Series thanks to a sweep of its best-of-three series against fourth-seeded Navy. The Bison won by scores of 15-6 and 8-4.
• Third-seeded Lehigh overcame second-seeded Army's homefield advantage last weekend and claimed the best-of-three Semifinal Series 2-1. The Mountain Hawks claimed games one and three, while the Black Knights won game two.
• This week's best-of-three Patriot League Championship Series will take place Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. Bucknell has Commencement on Sunday, while Lehigh's is Monday, causing the one-day adjustment in the series.
• All three games in the Patriot League Championship Series will take place at Depew Field. Bucknell will be the home team on the scoreboard in games one and three, while Lehigh will be the home team in game two. All games will be nine innings in length.
Video Broadcast
Live video of all games this weekend will air on the Patriot League Network free of charge. Mike Ferrin (Sirius XM MLB Network Radio) and Chris Hoiles (former Major League catcher) will call all the action.
Patriot League Tournament Format
In 2008, the Patriot League Tournament expanded to include the top four teams in the six-team league. Previously, only the first three squads in the final standings advanced to the postseason. The tournament, which was previously conducted on one weekend, also expanded to take up two weekends in May. The winner of the tournament earns the Patriot League's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Patriot League Titles
Bucknell, this year, will be going after its sixth Patriot League Tournament title. The Bison won the postseason tournament in 1996, 2001, 2003, 2008 and 2010, advancing to the NCAA Tournament each time.
Bucknell's PL Regular-Season Titles
Outright: 1996, 2003
Shared: 1999, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2014
Bucknell's PL Tournament Titles
1996, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2010
Balanced Tournament
Since the current Patriot League Tournament format was adopted in 2008, each seed has won at least four postseason series.
Series Records by Seed (since 2008)
No. 1 Seed: 6-4 (titles: 2)
No. 2 Seed: 5-6 (titles: 1)
No. 3 Seed: 4-5 (titles: 1)
No. 4 Seed: 5-5 (titles: 2)
Bucknell vs. Lehigh
• Lehigh leads the all-time series 88-80.
• Lehigh has won all three meetings in the Patriot League Tournament (2005 & 2006).
• Bucknell has won 12 of the 16 meetings over the last four years, winning the season series 3-1 each year.
• The series began in 1901.
Patriot League Tournament Appearances
Bucknell is playing in its sixth Patriot League Tournament in the last seven years. This is the 15th time Bucknell has qualified for the Patriot League Tournament since making its debut in 1996. The Bison own a 24-21 all-time record in the Patriot League Tournament.
PL Tournament Records vs. Opponents
Navy: 11-8
Army: 6-5
Holy Cross: 3-3
Lafayette: 2-2
Lehigh: 0-3
Not Much Postseason Experience
Bucknell's 2014 roster entered last weekend's series against Navy having combined for just 16 games played, 36 at bats, six hits and five RBIs in the Patriot League Tournament. Bison pitchers had logged 14.0 innings with Andrew Andreychik, Xavier Hammond, Bryson Hough and Dan Weigel each seeing time on the mound last year vs. Holy Cross.
Close Game Improvement
Bucknell last year was 4-15 in games decided by two runs or less. This year, the Bison are a strong 10-6 in those close games, including 6-4 in one-run outings.
Double-Figure Patriot League Wins
Bucknell finished the Patriot League campaign with a 15-5 record. It marked the fifth time in the last seven years the Bison have won at least 10 games in league play. Bucknell has reached that plateau 16 times in 24 years in the conference. The 15 wins tied a program record for Patriot League victories. The 1999 and 2003 squads also reached the 15-win plateau.
All-Patriot League
Bucknell tied for the league lead with six All-Patriot League selections this year. Pitcher Dan Weigel, catcher Jon Mayer, second baseman Joe Ogren, outfielder Anthony Gingerelli and designated hitter Corey Furman were the five Bison first-team honorees, while outfielder Brett Smith landed on the Second Team. Smith also became Bucknell's fourth Rookie of the Year, while Scott Heather was named Coach of the Year for the first time.
Academic All-Patriot League
Bucknell led the Patriot League with four players named to the 12-person Academic All-Patriot League Team. Tom Hrabchak, Joe Ogren, Tucker Rekucki and Dan Weigel were members of the team. No other school had more than two representatives on the squad.
Coach of the Year Scott Heather
• Scott Heather is in his second year as Bucknell head coach after eight years as an assistant to longtime mentor Gene Depew.
• Heather ranks fifth on Bucknell's all-time wins list with 43.
• Heather was named Patriot League Coach of the Year this past week. He joins with four-time winner of the award Depew to give Bucknell five PL Coaches of the Year.
Starters vs. Bullpen
Bucknell's starting pitchers are averaging 6.0 innings per start this year, logging 268.1 of the Bison's 360.0 innings. Bucknell's starters have a 3.69 ERA, while relievers own a 3.34 ERA. The Bison team ERA of 3.60 is their lowest since posting a 3.06 mark in 1976.
Consistent Starters
Bucknell used just four different starting pitchers in its Patriot League games this year, marking the third time in four years it did that. In 2011, Trey Frahler, Dylan Seeley, Ryan Ebner and Jack Boehm each made five Patriot League starts. Last spring, Bryson Hough, Dan Weigel, Dan Goldstein and Andrew Andreychik each started five Patriot League contests. This year, Hough, Weigel, Andreychik and Xavier Hammond combined to start all 20 Patriot League games.
Miscellaneous Notes
• Bucknell is the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2009. Fourth-seeded Lafayette defeated the Bison 2-1 in their opening-round best-of-three series at Depew Field.
• Sophomore catcher Jon Mayer hit two home runs in the series opener vs. Holy Cross the final weekend in May. He became the first Bison with a multi-homer game since Bob Donato in 2012.
• Bucknell has 11 more wins than it finished the 2013 season with, marking the program's biggest one-season turnaround since 2007 (16 wins) to 2008 (30 wins).
• Corey Furman, who will not play this weekend due to injury, entered the Patriot League Tournament hitting a league-best .388.
• Bucknell has not lost two straight games since March 22 vs. Penn State. That was also the last time the Bison were swept in a doubleheader.
• Bucknell has swept seven doubleheaders this season.
• Bucknell has thrown six shutouts this season, one shy of equaling the program record held by the 2003 team.
• Bucknell has reached double-figure wins at home for the third time in the last four years and its 13 home victories are its most since going 14-6 at Depew Field in 2008.
• Freshman reliever Mike Castellani earlier this year pitched 20.2 scoreless innings and had 11 straight appearances without allowing a run.
• Andrew Andreychik came one out shy of a fourth straight shutout and saw his 26.1 scoreless inning streak snapped in early April vs. Lehigh.
• Bucknell hit .347 with a 1.97 ERA in its four-game series vs. Lehigh earlier this year. The Mountain Hawks hit .221 with a 7.76 ERA in the series.
• Bucknell put together an eight-game winning streak earlier this season, marking its longest since 1998.
• Bucknell's 27 wins are its most since going 30-24-2 in 2008.
• Bucknell's 27 wins are the fourth-most in program history, trailing only 1998 (31), 2001 (31) and 2008 (30). The team's .611 winning percentage is its best since a .628 mark (27-16) in 2003.
• Bucknell is 10 games above .500 for the first time since finishing the 2003 season with a 27-16 overall record.
• This is the first year Depew Field has hosted more than three Patriot League Tournament games.
• Bucknell hit .342 and averaged 11.5 runs per game in its Patriot League Semifinal Series sweep of Navy.
• Bucknell is 19-6 in its last 25 games and is hitting .269 with a 2.50 ERA over that span. Corey Furman (.390), Brett Smith (.356), Alex O'Neill (.304) and Anthony Gingerelli (.304) are hitting over .300, while Xavier Hammond and Dan Weigel have matching 1.55 ERAs during that time frame.
• The Bison have outscored their opponents 129-68 over their last 25 outings.
• Weigel (6-0), Hough (5-0), Hammond (3-2) and Andreychik (3-2) have earned the win in 17 of Bucknell's last 19 victories over the last 25 games.
Up Next
The winner of the Patriot League Championship Series will earn the Patriot League's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team field will be announced Monday, May 26, and the Regionals will begin the following weekend (May 30-June 1) at 16 non-predetermined campus sites.
