Bucknell University
21-25
Army West Point (PL Championship Series)
30-21
Baseball's Late Lead Slips Away in Game One of Patriot League Championship
5/24/2022 4:54:00 PM | Baseball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Bucknell baseball never trailed through the first eight and a half innings and carried a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but five batters later, Army hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to take game one of the 2022 Patriot League Championship Series at Doubleday Field on Tuesday.
The Bison led 4-0 early on, but they were never able to build a comfortable cushion despite scoring runs in five different innings. Bucknell needed to retire three batters to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series, but a costly error, three straight singles and the winning sac fly allowed the Black Knights to score three runs before any outs were made in the final inning.
Rookie pitcher Tyler O'Neill received the loss after throwing the final 3.1 innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits and a walk. Junior Will Greer started the game and threw the first five innings, allowing four earned runs, four hits and three walks.
Senior catcher Logan Kellerman supplied three RBIs with a sacrifice bunt and a pair of singles, and sophomore Jacob Corson went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of walks and an RBI.
Army posted 10 hits to Bucknell's eight, and sophomore Sean Dennehy wound up with the win after facing just one batter.
Bucknell jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning when back-to-back walks were followed by three straight bunts, including an RBI bunt single by Mason Kelly and an RBI sac bunt by Kellerman. Kellerman helped create Bucknell's next two runs as well. He sent an RBI single through the right side in the top of the fourth and stole second during the next at-bat, which allowed Tyler Dunn to score on a throwing error by the Army catcher.
M2 | Bucknell 2, Army 0
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) May 24, 2022
The Bison are on the board first! Back-to-back walks followed by three straight bunts make it a 2-0 game early.
Watch: https://t.co/nsQ7iyotNZ pic.twitter.com/WztgYfuuVl
Bucknell's 4-0 lead quickly evaporated, however, as the Black Knights tied the game in the bottom half of the fourth thanks to three hit batters, a pair of singles and a walk.
The Bison regained the lead in the fifth after Chris Cannizzaro reached on an Army error and was later driven in by a Corson single up the middle. A Kellerman RBI single up the middle in the sixth pushed the advantage to 6-4.
M5 | Bucknell 5, Army 4
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) May 24, 2022
Back on top. Jacob Corson drives one in with two outs to regain the lead.
Watch: https://t.co/nsQ7iyotNZ pic.twitter.com/nyIWW6pIHG
Army remained on Bucknell's heels, cutting the deficit to 6-5 with a walk and a pair of singles once O'Neill entered the game in the bottom of the sixth. It was Army's last run before the ninth inning. Bucknell's last run was scored by Jacob Terwilliger on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth that gave the Bison their two-run lead heading into the last inning.
The bottom of the ninth began with Army's Kevin Dubrule reaching on a fielding error at first base, and he scored two batters later after consecutive singles. Another single up the middle sent the tying run across and put runners on second and third before Cam Cerruto's fly ball to left field ended the game.
Game two of the championship series is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DENNEHY, Sean (5-2)
L: O'Neill, Tyler (3-4)
Batting:
RBI: Corson, Jacob 1 ; Kelly, Mason 1 ; Kellerman, Logan 3
SH: Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Kelly, Mason 1 ; Kellerman, Logan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cannizzaro, Chris 1 ; Corson, Jacob 1 ; Dunn, Tyler 2 ; Lowery, Brendan 2 ; Terwilliger, Jacob 1
SB: Kellerman, Logan 1 ; Lyons, Kyle 1
Batting:
2B: CERRUTO, Cam 1 ; BERG, Derek 1
RBI: MEADE, Hunter 1 ; DUBRULE, Kevin 1 ; RUTA, Sam 1 ; MANESIS, Nick 1 ; FRIEDRICK, Ross 1 ; CERRUTO, Cam 1 ; BERG, Derek 2
SH: GOLINSKI, Braden 1
SF: CERRUTO, Cam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MEADE, Hunter 1 ; DUBRULE, Kevin 1 ; RUTA, Sam 1 ; MANESIS, Nick 2 ; FRIEDRICK, Ross 1 ; CERRUTO, Cam 1 ; BERG, Derek 1
HBP: MEADE, Hunter 1 ; CERRUTO, Cam 1 ; MACIAS, Carter 1
