Bucknell University
North Carolina A&T
Bucknell Softball Opens Season 2-0 with Wins over North Carolina A&T
3/6/2021 7:57:00 PM | Softball
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Bucknell softball team opened its 2021 campaign on a high note Saturday, winning both games of a doubleheader against North Carolina A&T. The Bison won 8-3 in the first game before coming away victorious by an 11-7 score in game two. The two wins are the firsts of head coach Sarah Caffrey's career.
"It was awesome. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, it was great. I think it was just really nice to see them be able to go out and compete," said Caffrey. "It was everything you could dream of and more."
Bucknell batted .413 on the day and totaled 26 hits, with nine different Bison getting in on the action. First-year Zoie Smith had herself an impressive afternoon, racking up five hits, two doubles and a home run. Meanwhile, pitchers Kelly Toomey and Kaiya Burton collected their first wins of the season, and sophomore Olivia Marinelli was credited with a save.
Bucknell gets back to action next weekend with a trio of games at Longwood. The Bison are scheduled to play a single game against the Lancers on Saturday, March 13, then play a doubleheader on Sunday, March 14.
Game One: Bucknell 8, North Carolina A&T 3
After two scoreless innings to begin the game, the Bison offense caught fire and scored eight runs over the final five innings of the season-opening victory. Senior Jess Hom was the first across home plate in 2021, scoring on an error. An inning later, Smith's homer and an RBI single by rookie Noelle Gardon hung two more on the board.
The Aggies hung close in the early going, scoring two of their own in the first four innings, but the Bison offense could not be slowed down. They scored two more in the fifth off hits by Nicole Rivait and Smith, added one in the sixth off a Taylor Wolfgang sacrifice fly, and knocked in two more in the seventh. Six different Bison registered RBIs in the contest and six different players tallied runs.
While the offense did its thing, junior transfer Toomey held her own in the circle and struck out six across four innings of work. Toomey earned her first win as a Bison. She was relieved by Marinelli in the fifth, and the sophomore allowed just two hits over the final three innings. A&T's Kiara Richards received the loss.
Smith finished the first game 3-for-4 at the plate, Sarah Baluch went 2-for-4, and Gardon went 3-for-4.
"We hit really well. The fun part about today is that when we hit the ball we hit it really hard, and we had a lot of really good opportunities to score runs because of the fact we were swinging at good pitches in the zone," said Caffrey.
Game Two: Bucknell 11, North Carolina A&T 7
Bucknell was off to a quick start on offense again in the second game, hanging four runs on the board in the first three innings. Rivait, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs in the game, knocked in the first one with a single through the right side of the defense before scoring herself two innings later. Bucknell built a 4-0 lead before the Aggies finally broke the scoring drought in the third inning, scoring on a single to center.
The Bison responded by knocking in four more runs in a big fourth inning that saw Rivait's second RBI on a sacrifice fly, an RBI single by Smith, and a two-RBI single up the middle by Baluch.
Things got closer in the fifth inning as the Aggies scored five runs in that frame alone. With the bases loaded, the Aggies scored on a walk. One batter later a grand slam turned it into an 8-6 ballgame, however, the Bison kept the bats alive and added three more runs in the top of the sixth for insurance. The Aggies would score just once more in the game, resulting in an 11-7 Bison victory.
Burton was given the win after tossing five strikeouts in five innings. Marinelli put two away in 1.2 innings of action, and rookie Hunter Vestal retired the first batter of her collegiate career.
Baluch posted a team-high three RBIs on 2-for-3 hitting, walked once, and scored twice. Rivait also went 2-for-3 while knocking in two teammates, and Smith finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
"Now that we've been on the field and we've seen what we look like as a unit, it's just being able to have some time to get outside, run through some defensive plays, cover some bunts, and work on some communication that we haven't been able to do yet," said Caffrey.
"We were a little rough around the edges, and that's to be expected after almost a year of not playing. We're really excited to get the opportunity to clean up the little bits and pieces that need it."
