Baseball to Open League Play Against Navy on Saturday and Sunday

Setting The Scene:
Who: Bucknell (3-11) vs. Navy (14-4)
When: Saturday-Sunday, March 17-18
Where: Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.

About The Bison

After going 1-4 over their spring break schedule, the Bison will come back home to open league play with a four-game series against Navy. It will be a rematch of last year's Patriot League Semifinal matchup where the Bison swept the Midshipmen.
Bucknell has been idle since taking game two from Villanova last weekend in Kissimmee. The Bison hammered the Wildcats by a count of 11-1, before dropping three tight contests to UMass. They lost game one 10-9 and fell in game two 9-8. In game three they put up a five-spot in the ninth, but would be denied any chance of extra innings thanks to a walk-off double by UMass.
Jeff Gottesman picked up the win in game two, striking out five and allowing just one earned run over seven innings. Senior Luke Johnson had four hits and one RBI, and Miles Moore hit a three-run homer in the first inning to break the game open. Mike Stephens pitched two scoreless relief innings to secure the 11-1 victory for Bucknell.
Tyler Wincig and JohnPaul Bell were the game three stars. Wincig collected four hits, including a leadoff homer in the ninth that sparked a five-run rally for the Bison. Needing someone to pull through to force extra innings, Bell cranked a game-tying RBI-double down the right-field line. Connor Smith ultimately denied the Bison an opportunity to win in extra innings with a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth.
Bell leads the league in home runs (4) and ranks second in slugging percentage (.558). After his four-hit performance, Wincig is hitting a team-best .417 on the year.
Connor Van Hoose has surrendered just eight earned runs over 22.2 innings in his career against Navy and is averaging about a strikeout an inning (22 total K's). He also spots a career 3.24 earned run average against the Midshipmen.

Scouting Navy/Series Record

The Midshipmen are currently riding a seven-game winning streak. Navy has beaten NJIT once and Maryland Eastern Shore twice. They swept Rider and also earned a 23-5 victory against Delaware State.
Zach Biggers leads the team with a .407 batting average, while Jacob Williamson (.356), Evan Lowery (.328), Ryan Duffey (.333), Stephen Born (.328), and Christian Hodge (.306) are also over .300. Williamson has a team-high 24 RBIs, while Liam Lowery has a team-best two homers.
On the mound, Navy's top starter has been Noah Song, who has a 1.12 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 24 innings over four starts. Jared Leins has a 0.54 ERA in five appearances out of the bullpen.
Bucknell and Navy first met in 1904, and the Midshipmen lead the all-time series 79-70. The teams last met in last year's Patriot League semifinal series, where Bucknell received a three-hit complete-game outing from starting pitcher Connor Van Hoose. The Bison would go on to sweep the series, out hitting Navy 12-3, and received a brilliant nine-inning shutout performance from Mike Castellani in the finale.

Looking Ahead

Following a four-game set against Navy, Bucknell will travel to State College, Pa., to take on Penn State. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday.