Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Andreychik's 10 Strikeouts Help Baseball to Doubleheader Split at Lafayette
4/16/2016 6:46:00 PM | Baseball
EASTON, Pa. – Andrew Andreychik recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts and won his third consecutive start – all against Patriot League opponents – to lead the Bucknell baseball team to a 4-1 victory over Lafayette in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Kamine Stadium. The Bison overcame a late one-run deficit with three runs in the sixth inning and one more in the seventh.
Lafayette (11-21, 5-5 PL) claimed game two 6-5, but Bucknell (15-22, 6-4 PL) had a ninth-inning comeback that came up just short as Leopard outfielder Andrew Landolfi threw out Alex O'Neill at home plate to end the game. O'Neill, who reached on a pinch-hit single, represented the tying run and was trying to score from third on a sac fly.
Brett Smith was 2-for-3 with a run scored in game one and 1-for-5 with a run scored in game two to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games for the Bison. Sam Clark had two hits in both games to finish the day 4-for-9 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Andreychik (4-3) was the story of game one as he improved to 3-0 against Patriot League competition this season. It was the 17th win of his career, tying him for third place on the program's all-time list. The senior righty allowed six hits and walked three batters, but stranded eight Lafayette runners on base, including three at third base. The Leopards scored their lone run against Andreychik in the fourth inning on a two-out single by Tyler Hudson.
Lafayette still held that 1-0 lead entering the top of the sixth when Bucknell plated three runs. Danny Rafferty, Joe Ogren and Sam Clark led off the inning by all reaching base and all three came around to score to give the Bison a 3-1 edge.
Bucknell, which is now 5-0 in game ones of doubleheaders during Patriot League play, added an additional run in the top of the seventh when Smith led off with a single and later scored on a one-out single by Ogren, who took over the team lead in RBIs (23).
Lafayette starter David Bednar (3-3) nearly matched Andreychik with nine strikeouts and six hits allowed. He departed one out into the seventh inning in favor of Ryan Callanan.
In the nightcap, Bucknell outhit Lafayette 11-8 and nearly completed a ninth-inning comeback, sending seven batters to the plate and scoring two runs after entering its final at bat trailing 6-3.
Evan Klugerman got the ninth inning started with a leadoff walk. Mark Powell and O'Neill followed with singles. Smith then reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Rafferty followed with an infield single that plated Powell to bring the Bison to within 6-5.
At bat with the bases loaded and no outs, Ogren popped out to second. Reliever Ari Kaufman, who earned his second save, then came in to face Clark. Clark flew out to left field, giving O'Neill the opportunity to tag up and attempt to score the tying run.
Lafayette got on the scoreboard first in game two, scoring one run in the first and two more in the second, knocking Bison starter Mike Castellani from the game in favor of reliever Jeff Gottesman (1-4) in the third.
Bucknell evened the score with three runs in the top of the third on a two-out Ogren single followed by a two-run double by Clark, who is hitting .313 on the year.
The Leopards went back on top with one run in the fourth and two more in the seventh that were charged to Gottesman, who logged 4.1 innings and allowed four hits and struck out three. Fellow rookie P.J. Strahm pitched the final 1.2 innings, retiring five of the six batters he faced, including sending the Leopards down in order in the eighth.
Lafayette used four pitchers in the game with starter Mitch Leeds (2-2) earning the win after yielding seven hits, three runs and two walks in 6.1 innings.
Rafferty, Ogren, Clark and Powell had two hits apiece in game two for the Bison. Powell also scored a team-high two runs.
Bucknell and Lafayette will wrap up their four-game series with another doubleheader Sunday starting at noon. Both games will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.
