Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Baseball Splits Home Doubleheader vs. Lafayette
4/18/2015 6:10:00 PM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Xavier Hammond pitched his fourth complete game of the year and held Lafayette to just one run over nine innings to lead the Bucknell baseball team to a 3-1 victory over the Leopards to earn a split of Saturday's doubleheader at summer-like Depew Field. With the split, the Bison (19-18, 5-9 PL) remain one game behind fourth-place Lafayette (8-19-1, 6-8 PL) for the final spot in next month's Patriot League Championship.
Bryson Hough (4-4) pitched a complete game in the seven-inning game one of the doubleheader for Bucknell, but the Leopards scored single runs in four different innings on their way to a 4-2 victory.
Hammond (5-2) was strong throughout his outing as he struck out six, scattered nine hits and walked just one. He moved into seventh place on the program's single-season strikeout list with 62.
Lafayette did not advance a baserunner to third base against Hammond until the sixth inning. The senior left-hander got out of a first-and-third with one out jam in the sixth by getting Toby Schwartz to hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
Hammond did a great job of preserving the win and the complete game in the ninth. After Schwartz led off with a single to center, Hammond struck out Campbell Lipe and got Tyler Hudson to fly out. Parker Hills single through the left side to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but Hammond got pinch hitter Tim Lazor to foul out to first base on the first pitch for the final out.
Bucknell's offense totaled seven hits to back up Hammond, including two apiece by Jon Mayer and Rob Krentzman. Krentzman had a two-out RBI single in the fourth, while Mayer followed a Spencer Stokes triple with an RBI double in the eighth. A one-out Greg Wasikowski triple off the left-field wall that drove home Krentzman in the seventh accounted for the other Bison run.
Bucknell never trailed on its way to the victory.
Tall left-hander John Cain (0-2) started opposite Hammond and allowed just three hits and struck out five, but he walked four in five-plus innings of work. He departed in favor of Alex Farina after walking Stokes to lead off the sixth inning.
Steven Cohen, Schwartz and Lipe had two hits apiece for the Leopards. Hammond shut down the bottom third of the Lafayette lineup as 7-8-9 hitters Parker Hills, Jackson Kramer and Michael Coniglio, along with Lazor, were a combined 1-for-10.
In game one, Hough allowed the Leopards to get the leadoff hitter on base in five of the seven innings and in four of those instances that person scored. Lafayette scored single runs in the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Hough, who has pitched the most innings in program history (282.1), totaled six strikeouts and yielded nine hits.
Lafayette starter David Bednar (2-5) retired the Bison in order in four innings and pitched to more than four hitters in a frame just once. He totaled seven strikeouts and allowed just five hits and did not walk a batter. He registered his third complete game of the season.
Bucknell's only runs in game one against Bednar came in the third inning and staked the Bison to an early 2-1 advantage. Mark Powell got the two-run rally started with a one-out single deep in the hole to short. Wasikowski followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position with just one out. Brett Smith came to the plate and bounced a ball to first base. First baseman Schwartz came home and Powell retreated to third. The catcher, Hills, raced him back to third, where Wasikowski was standing and tagged him out.
That left it up to Anthony Gingerelli, who was 2-for-7 on the day, who hit a hard single up the middle to plate Wasikowski and Smith for his 14th and 15th RBIs of the season.
Mayer, the Patriot League Player of the Week, was 3-for-6 on the day and extended his hitting streak to seven games, equaling the longest by a Bison this season.
Thanks to a hit by pitch in game one and a walk in game two, Smith has now reached base in 15 consecutive games, which is the longest streak by a Bucknell hitter this year.
The Bison and Leopards will square off in another doubleheader Sunday at noon at Depew Field. Both games will have a live audio broadcast on 90.5 WVBU and BucknellBison.com. Bucknell's nine seniors will be honored during Senior Day ceremonies prior to first pitch.
