
Baseball Defeats Central Michigan to Close Florida Trip
3/12/2020 12:40:00 AM | Baseball
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Bucknell University baseball team took a 4-0 lead and never looked back behind a solid starting pitching debut from freshman Will Greer in a 5-3 win over Central Michigan on Wednesday morning. The Bison snapped a six-game losing streak in the victory in their last game before conference play kicks off at Depew Field this weekend against Navy.
Greer pitched five innings while allowing just two hits and striking out a career-high seven batters in the win, as he stymied a Chippewa offense that accounted for 22 runs against the Bison the last time out, and earned his second victory of the year.
Tyler Wincig put the Bison on the board in the third inning with a double to left field that scored Kyle Lyons. Lyons started the proceedings with a single before stealing second, and was brought home for Wincig's fifth hit for extra bases this season, and his third double.
Bucknell then added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, all with two outs. Brendan Lowery walked and stole second, before an RBI single from Evan Madigan allowed Lowery to score. After Madigan went on to steal second, Tyler Wincig walked before both runners advanced on a wild pitch by the Chippewas. The wild pitch set up a big two-RBI single for Chris Cannizzaro, who leads the team with 17 RBIs this season, eight more than the next Bison on the list.
Central Michigan looked to get back into the game in the sixth, scoring one run on two hits before adding two more runs in the seventh on a two-run shot by Zavier Warren to pull within one, 4-3.
Bucknell then tallied an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to gain a multi-run advantage once more. Cannizzaro was involved once again, leading the inning off with a single before stealing second. The steal set up an RBI single from freshman Jake Wortman, who is second on the team to Cannizzaro in RBIs with nine on the year, as Bucknell took a 5-3 lead heading to the ninth.
Andrew Funovits replaced Tyler Rigot in the top of the seventh, and didn't allow a hit through his first two innings. However, Funovits did run into a bit of trouble in the ninth after getting the first two outs of the inning. Back-to-back singles by the Chippewas followed by an error by the Bison put runners on second and third with the potential go-ahead run at the plate. Funovits was replaced by junior Matt Ottsen, who forced a line out to left field to earn his first career save as Bucknell earned its first win since an 11-7 victory over NJIT on Feb. 29.
The Bison walked just three batters after giving up a season-high 15 walks on Monday against Central Michigan. Funovits allowed just two hits while picking up two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of relief.
Cannizzaro enjoyed a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Madigan added two hits with an RBI, while Wortman also collected two hits.
Bucknell will now look ahead to a four-game series against Navy at Depew Field from Friday, March 13-Sunday, March 15.
Greer pitched five innings while allowing just two hits and striking out a career-high seven batters in the win, as he stymied a Chippewa offense that accounted for 22 runs against the Bison the last time out, and earned his second victory of the year.
Tyler Wincig put the Bison on the board in the third inning with a double to left field that scored Kyle Lyons. Lyons started the proceedings with a single before stealing second, and was brought home for Wincig's fifth hit for extra bases this season, and his third double.
Bucknell then added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, all with two outs. Brendan Lowery walked and stole second, before an RBI single from Evan Madigan allowed Lowery to score. After Madigan went on to steal second, Tyler Wincig walked before both runners advanced on a wild pitch by the Chippewas. The wild pitch set up a big two-RBI single for Chris Cannizzaro, who leads the team with 17 RBIs this season, eight more than the next Bison on the list.
Central Michigan looked to get back into the game in the sixth, scoring one run on two hits before adding two more runs in the seventh on a two-run shot by Zavier Warren to pull within one, 4-3.
Bucknell then tallied an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to gain a multi-run advantage once more. Cannizzaro was involved once again, leading the inning off with a single before stealing second. The steal set up an RBI single from freshman Jake Wortman, who is second on the team to Cannizzaro in RBIs with nine on the year, as Bucknell took a 5-3 lead heading to the ninth.
Andrew Funovits replaced Tyler Rigot in the top of the seventh, and didn't allow a hit through his first two innings. However, Funovits did run into a bit of trouble in the ninth after getting the first two outs of the inning. Back-to-back singles by the Chippewas followed by an error by the Bison put runners on second and third with the potential go-ahead run at the plate. Funovits was replaced by junior Matt Ottsen, who forced a line out to left field to earn his first career save as Bucknell earned its first win since an 11-7 victory over NJIT on Feb. 29.
The Bison walked just three batters after giving up a season-high 15 walks on Monday against Central Michigan. Funovits allowed just two hits while picking up two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of relief.
Cannizzaro enjoyed a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Madigan added two hits with an RBI, while Wortman also collected two hits.
Bucknell will now look ahead to a four-game series against Navy at Depew Field from Friday, March 13-Sunday, March 15.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Greer, Will (2-0)
L: BROWN, C. (1-3)
S: Ottsen, Matt (1)
Batting:
HR: WARREN, Z. 1
RBI: WARREN, Z. 2 ; SHEPARDSON, A. 1
SF: SHEPARDSON, A. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: LECHNIR, Z. 1 ; WARREN, Z. 1 ; ROLLIN, C. 1
HBP: LECHNIR, Z. 1 ; LOCKWOOD-POWELL, G. 1 ; HEEKE, Z. 1 ; LECHNIR, D. 1

Batting:
2B: Wincig, Tyler 1
RBI: Madigan, Evan 1 ; Wincig, Tyler 1 ; Cannizzaro, Chris 2 ; Wortman, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Madigan, Evan 1 ; Wincig, Tyler 1 ; Cannizzaro, Chris 1 ; Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Lyons, Kyle 1
SB: Madigan, Evan 1 ; Cannizzaro, Chris 1 ; Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Lyons, Kyle 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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