Bucknell University
Cornell
Baseball Splits Home Doubleheader with Cornell
3/21/2015 8:13:00 PM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell and Cornell baseball teams squared off in a doubleheader Saturday at Depew Field and pitching was strong for both squads. A total of six runs were scored and the teams were limited to a combined 19 hits. The Big Red captured the seven-inning game one by a 3-0 score behind six shutout innings from starter Brian McAfee. The Bison earned a split of the doubleheader with a 2-1 victory in the nightcap thanks to a tiebreaking RBI double by Anthony Gingerelli in the fifth inning and eight strikeouts in six innings by Xavier Hammond.
The start of the doubleheader was delayed a couple of hours to allow for snow that had fallen in Central Pennsylvania on Friday to be cleared. The delay impacted the second game, which was scheduled to go the full nine innings, but was called due to darkness after the top of the sixth inning.
Hammond went the full six innings in game two and increased his season strikeout total to 40 in 35.0 innings pitched. He gave up a two-out RBI single to Kevin Tatum in the top of the first, but settled down and allowed just three more baserunners the rest of the way. The senior lefty, who improved to 3-0 on the year, retired the final five hitters he faced.
Bucknell tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Tommy Pennington reached on a two-out throwing error and Greg Wasikowski followed with a double off the left-field wall that drove him home.
Darkness was closing in in the fifth inning when the Bison rallied to take the lead. Brett Smith got things started with a one-out single. Gingerelli then lifted a long fly ball to center field that was caught for what appeared to be the second out. However, an umpire had called a balk, moving Smith to second base and giving Gingerelli another crack at it. The senior came through with a hard-hit double to right field that easily drove home Smith with what proved to be the winning run.
Kellen Urbon (0-1) pitched all five innings for Cornell (3-9) and allowed five hits and two walks while striking out two. The Big Red defense committed two errors behind him.
Bryson Hough (3-2) pitched well for Bucknell (10-7) in the opener, limiting Cornell to six hits and three runs in 7.0 innings. However, the Big Red scored single runs in the second, third and sixth innings. Eight of Cornell's 10 baserunners in the game came in those three innings.
McAfee (2-1) was strong for Cornell as he allowed just three hits and walked two hitters. He retired 10 in a row at one point. Paul Balestrieri pitched the seventh inning to earn his second save of the year.
Pennington had two hits in the game, while Smith and Gingerelli added one apiece. Thanks to hits in both ends of Saturday's doubleheader, Gingerelli now has a team-best six-game hitting streak. He is hitting .373 on the year, second on the team to Joe Ogren (.406), who reached base twice in the nightcap, including a hard-hit double to left in the third inning.
Bucknell and Cornell will wrap up their four-game weekend series Sunday with a doubleheader starting at noon at Depew Field.
