Bucknell University Athletics
Baseball Opens NCAA Regional Play Friday at 2 p.m. at Virginia
5/27/2014 5:02:00 PM | Baseball
About the NCAA Regionals
• Bucknell (30-19-1) will be playing in the Charlottesville Regional as the fourth seed. No. 1 Virginia (44-13), No. 2 Arkansas (38-23) and No. 3 Liberty (41-16) are the other three teams playing there this weekend.
• The four teams will compete in a double-elimination tournament with the winner moving on to next weekend's Super Regional against the winner of the Columbia Regional that includes South Carolina, Maryland, Old Dominion and Campbell.
• Bucknell is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Regionals, all since 1996.
• This is the fourth straight year, and sixth time in the last nine years, the Patriot League champion has been sent to Charlottesville.
2014 NCAA Charlottesville Regional Schedule
Friday, May 30
Game 1 - No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Bucknell, 2 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 2 - No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Liberty, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, May 31
Game 3 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2 p.m.
Game 4 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 1
Game 5 - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m.
Monday, June 2
Game 7 - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 7 p.m.
Broadcast Information
• All games at the Charlottesville Regional will be on an ESPN outlet. Bucknell's first game vs. Virginia will air on ESPN3.com. Other games during the weekend could air on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
• All Bucknell games at the Charlottesville Regional will have a live audio broadcast via BucknellBison.com with Mike Ferrin handling play-by-play duties.
Bucknell vs. the NCAA Field
• Bucknell is 2-5 against this year's NCAA Tournament field. The Bison are 1-0 against Binghamton, 1-2 opposite Columbia and 0-3 vs. South Carolina.
Plenty of Wins
• Bucknell has reached 30 wins in a season for the fourth time in program history (1998, 2001, 2008).
• Bucknell is one win shy of equaling the program record for victories in a season (31 by 1998 and 2001 teams).
• Bucknell equaled its record for most Patriot League wins in a season with a 15-5 mark during conference play.
• Bucknell is +14 in the win column over 2013, equaling the second-best turnaround in program history. The 2008 team was also +14, while the 1969 team was +15.
How Bucknell Got Here
• Bucknell tied for the Patriot League regular-season title with Army and earned the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament due to tiebreakers.
• The Bison swept a best-of-three semifinal series from fourth-seeded Navy on the first weekend of the Patriot League Tournament.
• Bucknell swept the best-of-three Patriot League Championship Series from third-seeded Lehigh to win its sixth conference title and earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
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, 2014
Bucknell's NCAA Appearances
1996 (Gainesville, Florida), 2001 (Coral Gables, Florida), 2003 (Austin, Texas), 2008 (Tallahassee, Florida), 2010 (Columbia, South Carolina), 2014 (Charlottesville, Virginia)
Bucknell vs. Virginia
• Bucknell trails the all-time series 1-22.
• The teams last met in 2013 with Virginia winning 12-4 and 9-1 at Davenport Field.
• Bucknell played Virginia in the first-ever game at Davenport Field Feb. 16, 2002. The Cavaliers posted a 10-3 victory.
• Bucknell's only win in the series came in 1925 in the second meeting between the two schools.
Bucknell vs. Arkansas
• Bucknell and Arkansas have only faced each other once and that was in the 2003 NCAA Regional at Texas. The Razorbacks defeated the Bison 10-7.
Bucknell vs. Liberty
• Bucknell is 1-6 all-time against Liberty with the most recent meeting coming in 2005. The Flames swept a three-game series in Lynchburg that season.
• The series began in 1989.
• Bucknell's last win vs. Liberty came in 2001.
NCAA Success
• Perhaps the biggest win in the history of the Bucknell baseball program came at the 2008 NCAA Regionals in Tallahassee, Florida. The Bison defeated No. 4 national seed Florida State 7-0.
• Then-senior Mathew Wilson pitched the complete-game, six-hit shutout to lead the Bison to their first NCAA win.
Christy Mathewson
• Bucknell's most famous baseball player is Christy Mathewson.
• Mathewson was one of the five original members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but gained his initial athletic fame as a fullback, punter and dropkicker at Bucknell from 1898-1900.
• Mathewson, who also played baseball and basketball at Bucknell, was also well-known as a gentleman and a true scholar-athlete. He was president of his class and a member of the glee club. Bucknell's Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium is named in his honor, and he is buried in the cemetery just behind the Kenneth Langone Athletics & Recreation Center.
NCAA Experience
• No player on the Bucknell roster has NCAA postseason experience.
• First-year Bison assistant coach Matt Busch was a freshman on the 2010 Bison that play at South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament, but did not appear in an NCAA contest.
• Bison coaches Scott Heather (Arkansas), Jason Neitz (East Carolina) and Ryan Wood (East Carolina) were all members of teams that made NCAA Regional appearances during their playing days.
Head Coach Scott Heather
• Bucknell second-year head coach Scott Heather was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2014. He has helped the Bison to their second-biggest win improvement in program history.
• Heather was a Bison assistant for eight years before taking over as head coach. He was on the staff of two Bucknell teams that made NCAA appearances (2008, 2010), serving as pitching coach.
• Heather is tied for fourth on Bucknell's all-time wins list with 46.
• Friday's game vs. Virginia will be Heather's 100th as head coach at Bucknell. He owns a 46-52-1 record.
Close Game Improvement
• Bucknell last year was 4-15 in games decided by two runs or less. This year, the Bison are a strong 12-8 in those close games, including 8-5 in one-run outings.
Doubleheaders
• Bucknell has played 19 doubleheaders this season.
• The Bison have swept eight doubleheaders this season and been swept just twice.
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.
• 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.
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 enters the NCAA Regional on a two-game losing streak, marking the first time it has lost back-to-back games since March 22 vs. Penn State.
• Bucknell has thrown six shutouts this season, one shy of equaling the program record held by the 2003 team.
• Bucknell's team ERA of 3.41 is its lowest since the 1976 squad posted a 3.06 ERA.
• Two-time All-Patriot League selection Corey Furman, will likely not play this weekend due to injury. He ended the regular season leading the Patriot League in hitting (.388).
• Bucknell was 16-5 at Depew Field this year, marking the second-most home victories in a season (1998 - 17).
• Bucknell's lineup has received plenty of production from its younger members. The freshman class leads the team in hits this year:
• 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 put together an eight-game winning streak earlier this season, marking its longest since 1998.
• Bucknell is 22-8 in its last 30 games and is hitting .257 with a 2.40 ERA over that span.
• The Bison have outscored their opponents 147-82 over their last 25 outings.
• Joe Ogren enters the NCAA Regional with a team-best eight-game hitting streak.
