Bucknell University
Colgate
Bucknell Softball Splits Saturday Doubleheader vs. Colgate
5/8/2021 6:36:00 PM | Softball
Schedule Update: Sunday's doubleheader vs. Colgate is now scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Game two will begin approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one.
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell softball split its doubleheader with the Colgate Raiders on Saturday, falling 2-0 in game one before picking up a 6-2 victory in game two at Becker Field. After struggling to find offense in the first game, the Bison were all over the Colgate pitchers in the second game and registered nine hits. Four Bucknell players finished with multiple hits in the second game, including a 2-for-3, 3-RBI performance from senior Taylor Wolfgang.
Bucknell is scheduled to play two more against the Raiders on Sunday. Game one of the doubleheader is set to begin at 10 a.m.
Game Two: Bucknell 6, Colgate 2
Bucknell scored runs in the first, third and fifth innings and held the Raiders off the scoreboard until the fifth in Saturday's second game. The Bison outhit Colgate 9-7 and picked up a pair of walks to secure the victory.
Sophomore Kaiya Burton pitched a complete game and earned one of Colgate's two runs.
Bucknell was off to a fast start, as Niki Mabry and Chase Knapp led off the game with back-to-back singles. Jazmyn Stokes sent Mabry across in the next at-bat on a sacrifice fly to put the home team up 1-0 after one.
The scoring went quiet in the second inning, but Bucknell tacked on three more in the third. Knapp opened the inning with a leadoff walk, and Sarah Baluch reached on a Colgate fielding error. With one away, Wolfgang sent a three-run homer over the left field fence. It was her fourth home run of the season and the 18th of her career, ranking her fourth in program history and putting the Bison up 4-0 in the game.
Colgate grabbed its first run of the game in the top of the fifth with a double and a single, but Bucknell came right back to extend its advantage in the bottom half of the inning. The Bison strung together three consecutive hits, including a single from Wolfgang, a double from Hom and an RBI single from rookie Hunter Vestal. It was the second RBI of the season for Vestal, who started the game as the designated player.
Noelle Gardon's sacrifice fly in the following at-bat scored Hom and put the Bison up 6-1.
Colgate scored once more in the top of the seventh after a leadoff double and a throwing error in the first two at-bats, but three of the next four batters flew out, and Bucknell held on for the win.
Burton earned her fifth win of the season in the contest, while Colgate's Bella Crow received the loss after giving up six hits and earning three runs over the first three innings. Wolfgang, Mabry, Hom and Vestal all finished with a pair of hits.
Game One: Colgate 2, Bucknell 0
The first game of the day was far more of a defensive battle as neither team saw a run score until the sixth inning. The Bison secured just two hits and committed three errors while Colgate posted seven hits and one error in the field.
Kelly Toomey received the start and retired the first six Colgate batters in order. The Raiders' bats began to wake up in the third inning, and they stranded a pair of runners in both the third and the fourth.
After Toomey put the first batter away on swings to begin the top of the sixth, back-to-back Bison errors allowed one run to come home. The Raiders followed it up with a double and a single to score once more. With one out in the inning, Burton entered the circle in relief for Bucknell.
Colgate attempted to add a third run on a sacrifice bunt with a runner on third, but Stokes charged the ball and flipped it to the catcher, who tagged the potential scorer to keep the deficit at 2-0.
Bucknell was unable to put runners on base during their final two trips to the plate and the Raiders took the win.
Toomey fell to 4-3 with the loss, despite earning no runs and striking out five. Knapp and Gardon had Bucknell's only hits.
