Baseball Makes Trip South for Spring Break

LEWISBURG, Pa. – There has been spring-like weather in Central Pennsylvania this week, but the Bucknell baseball team will experience summer-like temperatures in Central Florida next week. The Bison head to Florida to play five games over spring break, starting with the first of three in a row against Bradley on Saturday.

The Bison annually play in the Russ Matt Invitational and this year they will play all five games at Chain of Lakes Stadium against three different opponents. Bucknell will play Bradley on Saturday, Sunday and Monday before concluding the trip with contests against Maine (Tuesday) and Dartmouth (Wednesday).

Bucknell, which is one of just two Patriot League schools to own records of at least .500, is 5-5 this year against a difficult schedule. Included in its wins are victories over James Madison, which is 7-6 this season, Tennessee Tech, which is 6-5, and Notre Dame, which also owns a 6-5 record this spring.

The Bison have been particularly effective in close games as four of their wins have come in games decided by one or two runs. Six of Bucknell's 10 games have been decided by either one or two runs.

Brett Smith enters the spring break trip hitting a team-best .317 for the Bison. He already has five multi-hit games this year. Joe Ogren owns a team-best four-game hitting streak and leads the team with six RBIs, pushing his career total to 81.

Christian Tailor (3.1 IP) and Jack Schoenberger (0.1 IP) still have 0.00 ERAs for Bucknell, while Connor Van Hoose (1.29 in 7.0 IP), Jeff Gottesman (1.46 in 12.1 IP) and Mike Castellani (1.96 in 18.1 IP) are all below 2.00. Gottesman has 17 strikeouts this year, including a team season-high nine last week against Brown.

Bucknell is usually in Florida for the entire week of spring break, but the Bison return to Lewisburg early this year so they can host Cornell in a four-game series at Depew Field next weekend, March 19-20. The Bison and Big Red will square off in a pair of doubleheaders that will both begin at noon. All four games are scheduled to have a live audio broadcast on BucknellBison.com.

RussMatt Invitational Schedule (Winter Haven, Fla.)
March 12 – Bradley (4-6), 3 p.m.
March 13 – Bradley (4-6), 4:30 p.m.
March 14 – Bradley (4-6), 12:30 p.m.
March 15 – Maine (4-8), 12:30 p.m.
March 16 – Dartmouth (0-6), 3 p.m.

Bucknell Baseball's 2016 Weekly Awards
Patriot League Rookie of the Week: Jeff Gottesman (Feb. 22)