Tuesday, April 9
Towson, MD
3:00 P.M.
Bucknell University
10-24
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Towson
4-26
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Bucknell
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Towson
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Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Bell Drives in Five Runs in Bucknell's 9-8 Win at Towson
4/9/2019 7:05:00 PM | Baseball
TOWSON, Md. – JohnPaul Bell provided five RBIs for the second time this season and Andrew Funovits recorded his first career save in three scoreless innings as Bucknell defeated Towson 9-8 on Tuesday afternoon. The Bison used a four-run sixth inning after trailing 8-5 entering the frame and held on thanks to a three-inning save from Funovits.
Bucknell started the game well, with back-to-back singles from Luke Hartman and Tyler Wincig putting runners on first and second before Hartman moved to third on a fly out in foul territory.
Hartman then touched home after JohnPaul Bell stung a hard ball down the right side that the first baseman for the Tigers couldn't handle to score Hartman from third and move Wincig all the way to third.
Alex Baumann struck a well-hit ball to right field in the next plate appearance that gave Wincig plenty of time to scoot home after tagging up to give Bucknell a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Towson cut into the Bucknell lead after a sac fly by Zach Piazza scored Javon Fields from third.
Bucknell tallied a third run in the top of the second inning after Brendan Lowery reached on a walk before a sac bunt by Jared Drizin moved the freshman to second. Lowery stole third on the next play, before advancing home on a throwing error by the Towson catcher.
Towson tied the game at three in the bottom of the third, with errors once again plaguing the Bison.
Piazza scored after a throwing error by the Bison, before another fielding error in the infield allowed another run to score.
The Tigers gained the lead for the first time in the top of the fourth after a two-RBI double from Piazza scored Dirk Masters and Javon Fields. Piazza then came around to score himself on an RBI single from Noah Cabrera and give Towson a 6-3 lead.
The fifth inning started promising for the Bison, with a single from Hartman to start things off and walks from Wincig and Dominic Toso to load the bases with no outs.
JohnPaul Bell then ripped a two-RBI single down the right field line on the next pitch to score Wincig and Hartman before being called out trying to stretch the hit into a double.
The Bison couldn't plate any more runs in the inning, but Bell's second and third RBIs of the day cut the deficit to 6-5 after the frame.
Towson scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to restore the two-run advantage on a two-run home run by Nick Brown and lead 8-5.
The Bison took the lead for good in the sixth inning. Jared Drizin singled to start the proceedings for the Bison before stealing second. Luke Hartman then walked on a seven-pitch at-bat to put two runners on.
Wincig provided another timely hit for the Bison, scoring Drizin from third on a single to center field for Bucknell's first run of the inning. A single from Toso in the next at-bat loaded the bases to set up Bell once again.
Bell obliged with another single to the right side that scored both Wincig and Hartman for his fourth and fifth RBIs of the day to tie the game at eight.
Toso provided the go-ahead run in an aggressive move by the Bison to have Bell steal second. Bell was momentarily caught in a rundown before Towson tried to fire the ball home. The Towson catcher couldn't handle the throw cleanly, which allowed Toso to score from third and take a 9-8 lead.
The lead proved enough for the Bison, who sent in Andrew Funovits to pitch in the seventh, replacing Nicholas Sadd.
Funovits inherited a runner at first, but worked himself out of a minor jam after a single and a sac bunt put runners on second and third with one out.
The freshman from Pittsburgh settled in and struck out Piazza and drew a fly out to right field to end the threat for the inning. Funovits then went 1-2-3 in the eighth, before working himself out of another minor jam in the ninth.
After striking out the first batter, a single and a hit by pitch put the potential winning run on first with just one out. However, Funovits once again showed composure by striking out the next batter in three pitches and forcing a groundout to Evan Madigan at shortstop to end the game and earn his first career save.
Bucknell managed ten hits, with Bell, Wincig, and Luke Hartman all picking up multiple hits.
Bell's five RBI day was his second of the season with the other coming in the NC State series in February. Wincig and Hartman each had three runs scored, while Hartman was 2-for-3 on the day with three walks. Sadd (2-1) earned the win on the mound for the Bison.
Bucknell gets back into conference play with three games at home vs. Holy Cross on Saturday and Sunday.
Bucknell started the game well, with back-to-back singles from Luke Hartman and Tyler Wincig putting runners on first and second before Hartman moved to third on a fly out in foul territory.
Hartman then touched home after JohnPaul Bell stung a hard ball down the right side that the first baseman for the Tigers couldn't handle to score Hartman from third and move Wincig all the way to third.
Alex Baumann struck a well-hit ball to right field in the next plate appearance that gave Wincig plenty of time to scoot home after tagging up to give Bucknell a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Towson cut into the Bucknell lead after a sac fly by Zach Piazza scored Javon Fields from third.
Bucknell tallied a third run in the top of the second inning after Brendan Lowery reached on a walk before a sac bunt by Jared Drizin moved the freshman to second. Lowery stole third on the next play, before advancing home on a throwing error by the Towson catcher.
Towson tied the game at three in the bottom of the third, with errors once again plaguing the Bison.
Piazza scored after a throwing error by the Bison, before another fielding error in the infield allowed another run to score.
The Tigers gained the lead for the first time in the top of the fourth after a two-RBI double from Piazza scored Dirk Masters and Javon Fields. Piazza then came around to score himself on an RBI single from Noah Cabrera and give Towson a 6-3 lead.
The fifth inning started promising for the Bison, with a single from Hartman to start things off and walks from Wincig and Dominic Toso to load the bases with no outs.
JohnPaul Bell then ripped a two-RBI single down the right field line on the next pitch to score Wincig and Hartman before being called out trying to stretch the hit into a double.
The Bison couldn't plate any more runs in the inning, but Bell's second and third RBIs of the day cut the deficit to 6-5 after the frame.
Towson scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to restore the two-run advantage on a two-run home run by Nick Brown and lead 8-5.
The Bison took the lead for good in the sixth inning. Jared Drizin singled to start the proceedings for the Bison before stealing second. Luke Hartman then walked on a seven-pitch at-bat to put two runners on.
Wincig provided another timely hit for the Bison, scoring Drizin from third on a single to center field for Bucknell's first run of the inning. A single from Toso in the next at-bat loaded the bases to set up Bell once again.
Bell obliged with another single to the right side that scored both Wincig and Hartman for his fourth and fifth RBIs of the day to tie the game at eight.
Toso provided the go-ahead run in an aggressive move by the Bison to have Bell steal second. Bell was momentarily caught in a rundown before Towson tried to fire the ball home. The Towson catcher couldn't handle the throw cleanly, which allowed Toso to score from third and take a 9-8 lead.
The lead proved enough for the Bison, who sent in Andrew Funovits to pitch in the seventh, replacing Nicholas Sadd.
Funovits inherited a runner at first, but worked himself out of a minor jam after a single and a sac bunt put runners on second and third with one out.
The freshman from Pittsburgh settled in and struck out Piazza and drew a fly out to right field to end the threat for the inning. Funovits then went 1-2-3 in the eighth, before working himself out of another minor jam in the ninth.
After striking out the first batter, a single and a hit by pitch put the potential winning run on first with just one out. However, Funovits once again showed composure by striking out the next batter in three pitches and forcing a groundout to Evan Madigan at shortstop to end the game and earn his first career save.
Bucknell managed ten hits, with Bell, Wincig, and Luke Hartman all picking up multiple hits.
Bell's five RBI day was his second of the season with the other coming in the NC State series in February. Wincig and Hartman each had three runs scored, while Hartman was 2-for-3 on the day with three walks. Sadd (2-1) earned the win on the mound for the Bison.
Bucknell gets back into conference play with three games at home vs. Holy Cross on Saturday and Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sadd, Nicholas (2-1)
L: Cam Clark (0-2)
S: Funovits, Andrew (1)
Batting:
2B: Madigan, Evan 1 ; Smith, Ben 1
RBI: Wincig, Tyler 1 ; Bell, JohnPaul 5 ; Baumann, Alex 1
SH: Drizin, Jared 1
SF: Baumann, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hartman, Luke 3 ; Wincig, Tyler 3 ; Toso, Dominic 1 ; Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Drizin, Jared 1
SB: Bell, JohnPaul 2 ; Madigan, Evan 1 ; Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Drizin, Jared 1
CS: Bell, JohnPaul 1 ; Smith, Ben 1
HBP: Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Drizin, Jared 1
Batting:
2B: Zach Piazza 1
HR: Nick Brown 1
RBI: Zach Piazza 3 ; Noah Cabrera 2 ; Trent Gast-Woodard 1 ; Nick Brown 2
SH: Dirk Masters 1
SF: Zach Piazza 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Javon Fields 2 ; Dirk Masters 1 ; Zach Piazza 2 ; Brad Powers 1 ; Isaiah Winikur 1 ; Nick Brown 1
SB: Javon Fields 1
HBP: Javon Fields 1 ; Noah Cabrera 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/3B
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF/1B
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballP/INF
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