Baseball Returns to Patriot League Play This Weekend at Army West Point

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell baseball team opened Patriot League play last weekend with three wins against Lehigh and looks to keep the momentum going this weekend when it plays a four-game series at Army West Point. The Bison and Black Knights will play a noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday with all games at Doubleday Field.

All four games will have live statistics available via Army's website. There will also be audio broadcasts available both days on Knight Vision.

Bucknell (12-18, 3-1 PL) is coming off a 6-4 loss at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. The Bison built an early 4-0 lead, but the Bonnies scored five runs in the sixth inning to post a comeback victory.

This weekend's games will continue a stretch where Bucknell will play 11 consecutive contests away from home. The Bison have played just three road games since the calendar flipped to March.

Brett Smith continues to be the catalyst for the Bucknell offense. The junior center fielder has started 120 consecutive games and is hitting a team-best .362 this year. Smith has a seven-game hitting streak and has hits in 19 of the last 20 games. He has a season-best four consecutive multi-hit outings, bringing his season total to 15 multi-hit games.

Fellow junior Sam Clark has also hit in seven consecutive games, a career best. The left-handed hitting third baseman is third on the team with a .297 batting average, including 12-for-25 (.480) during his current hitting streak. Clark is also one of six Bison to drive in at least 10 runs this season.

Senior Joe Ogren has also been hot at the plate lately. The second baseman has at least one hit in five of his last six games, including a three-hit outing Wednesday at St. Bonaventure. His average has increased from .233 to .257 over the last week.

Ogren is also climbing a number of Bucknell career lists. He ranks in the top 10 in program history in: hit by pitch (1st, 36), walks (3rd, 74), games started (t-5th, 168), doubles (t-5th, 40), at bats (6th, 591), games played (t-7th, 169), hits (t-10th, 179).

Bucknell is expected to use the same four-man weekend rotation it used two weeks ago against Yale and last week against Lehigh. It is a veteran rotation with two seniors (Andrew Andreychik, Dan Keller), one junior (Mike Castellani) and one freshman (Jack Grabek). That group has combined to start 24 of the team's 30 games this year and has pitched 138.0 innings, more than half of the team's 257.2.

Army West Point (10-18, 1-3 PL) opened Patriot League play last weekend at home against Lafayette and lost the first three games of the series before avoiding the sweep with a 9-3 win in Sunday's nightcap. The Black Knights, who are in the midst of an 11-game homestand, lost to UMass Lowell 7-5 on Tuesday, dropping them to 2-9 in their last 11 games.

Army is hitting .261 on the year with a 6.44 ERA. Bucknell is hitting .270 with a 5.41 ERA.

Bucknell will return to non-league action next Wednesday, April 13, when it makes the short trip to Penn State for a 6:30 p.m. game. The Bison will also play at Penn State April 19. In between, Bucknell will play a four-game Patriot League series at Lafayette (April 16-17).

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Game 1: RHP Andrew Andreychik (2-3, 6.21 ERA, 26 K, 37.2 IP) vs. RHP Matt Ball (2-4, 5.59 ERA, 24 K, 38.2 IP)
Game 2: LHP Mike Castellani (3-3, 4.74 ERA, 22 K, 38.0 IP) vs. LHP Jeremy Mortensen (1-3, 6.25 ERA, 31 K, 31.2 IP)
Game 3: RHP Dan Keller (1-3, 3.62 ERA, 29 K, 37.1 IP) vs. LHP Tyler Giovinco (1-1, 8.05 ERA, 13 K, 19.0 IP)
Game 4: LHP Jack Grabek (1-1, 2.52 ERA, 20 K, 25.0 IP) vs. RHP Daniel Burggraaf (1-1, 4.82 ERA, 22 K, 18.2 IP)

Bucknell Baseball's 2016 Weekly Awards
Patriot League Rookie of the Week: Jeff Gottesman (Feb. 22), Jack Grabek (March 28)
Bison Athlete of the Week: Brett Smith (April 4)