Baseball Continues Road Trip With Four Games at Lehigh

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team will be visiting Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, this weekend for a four-game series with Lehigh starting Saturday. Two games will be played each on Saturday and Sunday starting at 12 p.m., and this will be the second Patriot League series of the season for the Bison. All four games will be broadcast live on the Patriot League Network.

Bucknell (14-11, 0-4 PL) finished its first conference series last weekend at Navy. The Bison saw their five-game winning streak come to an end against the Midshipmen. Bucknell went 0-4 over the weekend, which included a pair of extra-inning, one-run games on Sunday.

Starting pitcher Bryson Hough recorded his second complete game of the season in a 4-2 loss in game one. Joe Ogren drove in two runs in the opener, and his season RBI total now sits at a team-high 22. Brett Smith went 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot in the second game of the doubleheader, but Bucknell fell 7-1.

Sunday's games were much tighter, starting with a 2-1 Navy victory in 10 innings. Andrew Andreychik pitched a strong game for the Bison, logging 9.2 innings and posting a career-high 12 strikeouts. The scheduled seven-inning game was scoreless heading into the 10th inning, and after Bucknell took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th on a Mark Powell single, the Midshipmen rallied for two runs to take the win.

The following game lasted even longer than the first part of the doubleheader, going 14 innings in a 6-5 loss for the Bison. Jon Mayer totaled three hits in the game, while five different Bison knocked in a run. Mike Castellani followed up Andreychik's gem with one of his own, not allowing an earned run over 7.2 of relief innings to improve his season ERA to 1.88.

Despite the rough start to Patriot League play, the defending Patriot League champions have a chance to even their conference record with this weekend's series against Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks are 5-17 on the season and 1-3 in Patriot League play.

Bucknell owns a 90-80 all-time record against Lehigh, which includes taking three of four games in a series last season at Depew Field. The team also won both games against Lehigh in the Patriot League Championship Series last season on its way to the conference title. The Bison have won three out of four regular-season games against the Mountain Hawks each of the last four years, and they have not lost a series to them since 2010.

The Bison hold advantages in several categories over Lehigh, including batting average (.265 vs. .247) and ERA (3.67 vs. 4.77). Bucknell starters have been able to last long into ballgames, combining for six complete games, while the Mountain Hawks have none. Lehigh features several left-handed pitchers, and Bucknell posts a .278 average against lefties as a team.

Following the Lehigh series, the Bison have a single away game at Penn State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and will then return to Depew Field next weekend for their first home Patriot League series against Army. All four games of that Army series can be heard on WVBU 90.5 and BucknellBison.com.

Bucknell Baseball's 2015 Weekly Awards
Patriot League Player of the Week: Jon Mayer (Feb. 16), Joe Ogren (Feb. 23, March 2)
Patriot League Pitcher of the Week: Andrew Andreychik (March 23)

Weekend Pitching Matchups
Saturday Game 1: RHP Bryson Hough (3-3, 3.70 ERA, 26 K, 41.1 IP) vs. RHP J.R. Edwards (0-2, 2.14 ERA, 17 K, 21.0 IP)
Saturday Game 2: LHP Xavier Hammond (3-1, 3.83 ERA, 45 K, 40 IP) vs. LHP Nick Macaione (0-3, 2.83 ERA, 19 K, 28.2 IP)
Sunday Game 1: RHP Andrew Andreychik (2-3, 2.57 ERA, 24 K, 28 IP) vs. TBA
Sunday Game 2: TBA vs. TBA

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.