Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Holy Cross
Softball Hosts Holy Cross for Patriot League and Home Opener
3/23/2022 11:48:00 AM | Softball
Setting the Scene, Part I
What: Holy Cross (5-16, 0-0 PL) at Bucknell (3-20, 0-0 PL) (DH)
Where: Lewisburg, Pa. – Becker Field
When: Saturday, March 26 – Noon / 2 p.m.
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Setting the Scene, Part II
What: Holy Cross (5-16, 0-0 PL) at Bucknell (3-20, 0-0 PL)
Where: Lewisburg, Pa. – Becker Field
When: Sunday, March 27 – 1 p.m.
Watch Live: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
About the Bison
• Bucknell opens Patriot League play and hosts its first home games of the season this weekend when Holy Cross comes to Becker Field for a Saturday doubleheader and a single game on Sunday. The Bison have played 12 away games and 11 neutral site games this season.
• Bucknell went 3-8-1 at Becker Field last season. The Bison grabbed a pair of wins over Lafayette and one over Colgate at home in 2021.
• Bucknell finished 9-14-1 in Patriot League play in 2021, finishing fifth in the standings. The team was picked fifth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll this year, while Holy Cross and Lafayette were picked sixth and seventh, respectively.
• Bucknell's three wins this season were over Marist, UNCW and Western Michigan. Three of Bucknell's losses have been against teams ranked in the top 30 in RPI, and eight of the losses were to teams in the top 75.
• As a team, the Bison are batting .201 this season and have a team ERA of 5.81.
• Senior infielder Nicole Rivait leads the Bison with a .329 batting average. She has a team-high 23 hits on the season with six doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBIs. Rivait is slugging .486 and has posted five hits over the last five games.
• Junior Chase Knapp leads the roster with six RBIs and is second in both batting average (.250) and hits (17). She also has a team-high two home runs.
• Senior pitcher Kelly Toomey has all three of Bucknell's wins in the circle this season and is 3-9 overall in 2022. Toomey has thrown three complete games and leads the roster in strikeouts (39) in 57.2 innings pitched. Behind Toomey, juniors Kaiya Burton and Olivia Marinelli have started four games each.
• Saturday is the softball program's Pride Game, presented by Bucknell's Athlete Ally chapter. The Bison will be wearing special shirts for the event, and there will be a table with resource information set up at the field.
Scouting Holy Cross
• Holy Cross is 5-16 overall and will play a doubleheader at Merrimack, which it defeated earlier in the season, on Thursday before visiting Lewisburg. The Crusaders have lost six straight games going into Thursday.
• Prior to the Crusaders' six-game losing skid, they went 3-1 at The Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Fla. Like the Bison, Holy Cross faced Siena and Western Michigan at the Madeira Beach tournament and defeated the Saints while falling to the Broncos. The Crusaders also suffered a pair of losses to North Florida the day before Bucknell played there.
• Holy Cross is batting .226 as a team, led by sophomore Jessica Mott (.313). Mott has been particularly strong over the last 10 days. She's batting .435 with 10 hits in the last seven games.
• Holy Cross senior Kelly Nelson was named Patriot League Preseason Pitcher of the Year back in February and is a two-time All-League selection. She owns a 2.75 ERA this season and accounts for four of the team's five wins at 4-9 in the circle in 2022.
Series History with the Crusaders
• Bucknell leads 68-37 in the all-time series with Holy Cross, which dates back to 1991. The Bison have also won nine of the last 10 games against the Crusaders going back to 2018.
• Bucknell is hosting Holy Cross for the first time since 2018, as all four series games last season were played in Worcester and the teams never reached league play in 2020.
• Bucknell went 3-1 against the Crusaders in 2021. Rivait went 5-for-13 with a double and a home run in the series, and Zoie Smith went 4-for-12 with a double and four RBIs.
• In the circle, Burton picked up two of the three wins against the Crusaders last season, allowing 10 hits and three runs over two complete game.
• Toomey was one out away from throwing a no-hitter at Holy Cross in her 2021 win. It wasn't until the final at-bat of the game when Bella Jankowski hit a two-out double to left field, spoiling the achievement. The Bison made a play at the plate on the hit to end the game and preserve the 1-0 shutout.
Up Next
Bucknell plays a single game at Penn State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29 before heading to Boston, Mass. to take on the Terriers next weekend.
