Bucknell University Athletics
Baseball Opens Home Schedule Tuesday vs. Saint Joseph's
3/16/2015 4:22:00 PM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team returned from its spring break trip to Florida on Saturday night and is now gearing up for a seven-game homestand, which commences Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Saint Joseph's. It will be the first home game of the season for the Bison, who are 9-5 overall and went 4-3 in Florida.
Bucknell, which was 16-5 at Depew Field a year ago, had home games against Buffalo that were scheduled for Feb. 28 and March 1 moved to South Carolina. This is the first of two long stretches of home contests this season for the Bison, who will play 11 out of 12 games at Depew Field from April 11 to April 22.
Bucknell returns home on a two-game winning streak as the Bison closed their Florida trip with back-to-back victories over Butler.
Junior second baseman Joe Ogren leads Bucknell in hitting with a stellar .429 average. The All-Patriot League player also paces the team in home runs (3), RBIs (16), slugging percentage (.661) and on-base percentage (.522).
Mark Powell and Mike Korchak enter Tuesday's game with team-best five-game hitting streaks intact, while Greg Wasikowski has hit in four straight games. A senior shortstop, Wasikowski is hitting nearly 100 points higher than last year and has already driven in as many runs.
The versatile Danny Rafferty has been strong out of the bullpen, totaling two saves and allowing just three hits and no runs in 6.0 innings over four appearances. He has also driven in 13 runs to rank second on the team behind Ogren.
Saint Joseph's is 4-9 on the season, but posted home wins over Wagner and Northeastern this past weekend. The Hawks are hitting .216 as a team and have a 5.11 ERA. Bucknell is hitting .291 and has a 4.03 ERA.
The Bison and Saint Joseph's have split eight all-time meetings. The teams last squared off in 2013 with the Hawks posting a 4-2 victory at Depew Field.
Bucknell will continue its homestand this weekend with a four-game series against Cornell. Doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday will begin at noon.
Bucknell Baseball's 2015 Weekly Awards
Patriot League Player of the Week: Jon Mayer (Feb. 16), Joe Ogren (Feb. 23, March 2)
Bucknell Baseball Home Radio Broadcast Schedule
(Games air live on WVBU 90.5 and BucknellBison.com)
April 11: vs. Army (DH), 12 p.m.
April 12: vs. Army (DH), 12 p.m.
April 18: vs. Lafayette (DH), 12 p.m.
April 19: vs. Lafayette (DH), 12 p.m.
