Bucknell Drops Games to Pittsburgh, Radford

Sunday, February 24

Spartanburg, SC

10 A.M.

Bucknell University

0-5

Pittsburgh

3-3

Bucknell

Pitt

2/24/2019 7:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

SPARTANBURG, S.C.-- The Bucknell University baseball team dropped two games on Sunday to Pittsburgh and Radford to close out the USC Upstate-Wofford Tournament on a weekend that was riddled with rain delays and schedule changes.

The Bison fall to 0-6 with the pair of losses.

Game One: Pittsburgh 8, Bucknell 2

Bucknell pulled within two runs in the fourth thanks to a sac fly from Miles Moore and an RBI single from Evan Klugerman, but the Panthers responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame and two more in the eighth to pull away and win 8-2 in a 10 a.m. game at Wofford.

The Panthers struck early on after a two RBI double from Ron Washington Jr. to left center scored Kyle Hess and Cole MacLaren.

The Panthers then added another run on an RBI double by Nico Popa to take a 3-0 lead after one.

Pittsburgh added another insurance run in the second to take a 4-0 lead after two frames.

The Bison got on the board in the top of the fourth inning after Tyler Wincig reached on an error, before JohnPaul Bell doubled to right field to move Wincig to third.

Miles Moore then flied out to right field to score Wincig, before Klugerman used a single to left field to score Bell from second to cut the Pittsburgh lead to 4-2.

However, Pittsburgh answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, with Washington doubling once again to set the Panthers with a runner in scoring position and one out.

A wild pitch and a passed ball then helped Washington to score from second to add a run. The Panthers earned their final run in the frame after David Yanni managed to score from third after Sky Duff was caught stealing.

The Panthers added two more runs in the eighth to secure an 8-2 win in the two teams' first meeting since 1999.

Bell posted the only multi-hit game for the Bison, while Moore and Klugerman each notched RBI. Freshman Will Gannon posted his first career hit for the Bison in the loss. Jeff Gottesman (0-2) took the loss on the mound for Bucknell. Hunter Robichaux out of the bullpen pitched 2.2 innings while allowing just one hit and striking out four batters.

Game Two: Radford 17, Bucknell 4
A 2-2 close encounter in the fourth inning was blown open after the Highlanders managed nine unanswered runs in the fourth inning to take a 17-4 win over the Bison.

Bucknell took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Dominic Toso singled through the right side to score freshman Chris Cannizzaro, who reached on an error before stealing second.

Radford claimed the lead for the first time in the top of the second with two runs on three hits and an error by the Bison.

Bucknell tied things up in the bottom of the frame when Ben Smith lead off the inning with a walk before PJ Strahm singled through the left side to give the Bison two on with no outs.

Caleb Broughton then moved the runners on a sac bunt before Cannizzaro brought home Smith after Smith managed to cross home plate before a double play from third to first to third ended the inning.

The Highlanders scored nine runs in the fourth inning to gain some separation from Bucknell on five hits to take an 11-2 lead after four.

The Bison pulled a run back in the bottom of the fourth after Smith doubled to right center to score Evan Madigan, who lead off the inning with a single.

The Highlanders added four more runs in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh to round out the scoring, while Bucknell scored its final run on an RBI single by Toso to plate Broughton in the bottom of the inning. The game was called after seven innings.

The Bison managed seven hits, with Toso going two-for-four from the plate with two RBI. Madigan also collected two hits, while Smith, Strahm, and Cannizzaro tallied the other hits for the Bison. Jack Simpson (0-1), took the loss on the mound for the Orange and Blue.

Bucknell will play at Depew Field for the first time this season for a three-game series against Niagara on Friday, March 1-Sunday, March 3.