Friday, February 24
Charleston, S.C.
12 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
Boston College
Photo by: Phil Inglis
Bison Baseball Team Set for Three Games at Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston
2/23/2023 1:25:00 PM | Baseball
Bucknell at the 2023 Swig & Swine College Classic
Shipyard Park, Charleston, S.C.
Watch Live: HiCast Sports Network (subscription required)
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Schedule:
Friday, Feb. 24
12 p.m. – Bucknell vs. Boston College (Detyens Field)
12 p.m. – Ball State vs. Merrimack (Wando River Field)
5 p.m. – Canisius vs. Rutgers (Detyens Field)
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Saturday, Feb. 25
12 p.m. – Rutgers vs. Ball State (Detyens Field)
12 p.m. – Boston College vs. Canisius (Wando River Field)
4 p.m. – Bucknell vs. Ball State (Detyens Field)
4 p.m. – Merrimack vs. Canisius (Wando River Field)
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Sunday, Feb. 26
9 a.m. – Canisius vs. Ball State (Detyens Field)
9 a.m. – Merrimack vs. Bucknell (Wando River Field)
1 p.m. – Boston College vs. Rutgers (Detyens Field)
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Bucknell at a Glance
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Shipyard Park, Charleston, S.C.
Watch Live: HiCast Sports Network (subscription required)
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Schedule:
Friday, Feb. 24
12 p.m. – Bucknell vs. Boston College (Detyens Field)
12 p.m. – Ball State vs. Merrimack (Wando River Field)
5 p.m. – Canisius vs. Rutgers (Detyens Field)
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Saturday, Feb. 25
12 p.m. – Rutgers vs. Ball State (Detyens Field)
12 p.m. – Boston College vs. Canisius (Wando River Field)
4 p.m. – Bucknell vs. Ball State (Detyens Field)
4 p.m. – Merrimack vs. Canisius (Wando River Field)
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Sunday, Feb. 26
9 a.m. – Canisius vs. Ball State (Detyens Field)
9 a.m. – Merrimack vs. Bucknell (Wando River Field)
1 p.m. – Boston College vs. Rutgers (Detyens Field)
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Bucknell at a Glance
- Bucknell is back in action this weekend at the Swig & Swine College Classic at Shipyard Park in Charleston. The Bison will be taking on Boston College, Ball State, and Merrimack in the second of three straight southern trips prior to the March 8 home opener against Marist.
- The Bison made their 2023 debut last weekend at No. 5 Louisville, the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Coast Conference. While the Cardinals took all three games by scores of 7-1, 11-2, and 5-3, Bucknell returned home with a number of positives.
- In Sunday's series finale, Louisville scored four runs on four straight two-out hits in the bottom of the first inning, but Bison pitchers Tyler O'Neill, Nick Mulvey, Theo Farynick, and Ryan Osinski limited the Cardinals to one run on three hits the rest of the way.
- Grant Voytovich and Sean Keys belted Bucknell's first two home runs of the season on Sunday. Voytovich made it a 4-2 game with a solo shot to left-center in the top of the third, and then in the sixth, Keys launched a drive an estimated 430 feet off the batter's eye in straightaway center field to bring the Bison within a run. Â
- Keys, a sophomore who has taken over the starting third base job, went 3-for-10 in the series and leads the team with a .300 batting average through three games. The home run was the second of his career, with the other coming last season at Holy Cross.
- Sophomore Billy Kender also had three hits in the series at Louisville. Kender has replaced the graduated Brendan Lowery as the staring second baseman, and he hit in the cleanup spot in all three games last weekend.
- Senior centerfielder Kyle Lyons had two hits and an RBI in the series opener, and he also drew three walks in the series.
- Junior Jacob Corson had an eventful opening weekend. Corson served as the DH in the first two games of the series and then started at catcher for the first time on Sunday. In his very first inning behind the dish, he nabbed the speedy Christian Knapczyk trying to steal third. Corson hit in the leadoff spot in all three games and went 2-for-9 with four walks and a hit-by-pitch, leaving him with a team-best .500 on-base percentage.
- Senior Chris Klein notched his first Bucknell hit with a pinch-hit single on Saturday, and then he got the start at DH on Sunday and delivered another knock.
- Several freshmen made their Bison debuts against Louisville. With veteran shortstop Anthony Sherwin out with an injury, freshman Chris Facinelli was the opening-day starter at short. Drew Ucello and Michael Trommer both drew walks in pinch-hitting appearances in Saturday's game.
- Two freshman pitchers made impressive appearances out of the bullpen. Ryan Osinski struck out two in a dominant eighth inning on Sunday. A day earlier, Hadley Maxwell struck out two in 1.1 innings and was charged with an unearned run.
- The Bison will play a fourth straight ACC opponent on Friday when they square off against Boston College for the very first time.
- The Eagles opened up last weekend in Malibu, Calif., and took 2 of 3 from Pepperdine. After dropping the season opener 9-0, Boston College came back to win 3-0 and 18-6.
- Chris Flynn (6.0 innings) and John West (3.0) combined on a 1-hit shutout on Saturday. Flynn struck out seven and walked only one, while West fanned three more on the way to the save. Patrick Roche hit a 2-run homer to lead the offense.
- Boston College piled up 18 runs on 16 hits in the rubber game of the series. The Eagles trailed 5-4 before posting an 8-run fourth inning. Cameron Leary and Barry Walsh belted home runs, and leadoff hitter Cohl Mercado went 4-for-6 with four RBIs. Bobby Chicoine pitched three scoreless innings in relief to earn the win.
- Vince Cimini leads the team with a .455 batting average, followed by Leary at .400.
- Boston College finished 19-34 overall and 5-25 in the loaded ACC last season.
- Ball State is the preseason favorite in the Mid-American Conference. The Cardinals nosed out Central Michigan for the top spot in the MAC preseason poll, despite losing their No. 1 starting pitcher and all three starting outfielders from last year's team that finished 40-19 overall and 32-7 in the MAC.
- Just like Bucknell, Ball State lost in three games in a best-of-three conference championship series last season. The Cardinals were the top seed and took the first game from No. 2 Central Michigan 9-7, but the Chippewas came back to win 12-3 and 11-7 to claim the series.
- The Cardinals travel to Charleston with a 1-3 record after dropping 3 of 4 at Charlotte last weekend. Ball State won the opener 2-1, got swept in a Saturday doubleheader 9-4 and 9-5, and then fell 19-5 on Sunday.
- Trennor O'Donnell and Ryan Brown combined for a three-hitter in the opener, with Brown working 4.2 innings in relief for the win. Brown, who was named the No. 49 prospect in college baseball by D1Baseball, struck out 10 but walked nine in that stint, as Ball State managed a 2-1 win despite 15 walks in the game. Ryan Peltier's solo homer in the fourth held up as the game-winner.
- Peltier, a grad student third-baseman who was selected as a Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, went 5-for-10 with three home runs and six runs scored in the series. He also drew four walks and enters this weekend with a tidy 2.043 OPS.
- Casey Turturici, Logan Flood, and Matthew Rivera also homered in Charlotte.
- Ball State closer Sam Klein was selected as a Second Team Preseason All-American by the NCBWA.
- Bucknell and Ball State have met on the diamond only one other time, and it was on the first day of last year's season-opening Swig & Swine in Charleston. The Cardinals prevailed 8-7 despite home runs from Brendan Lowery and Chris Cannizzaro.
- Merrimack will be making its 2023 debut this weekend. The Warriors finished 17-31-1 overall and 12-15 in the Northeast Conference a year ago.
- This year the NEC has collaborated with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to bring four MEAC baseball schools under the NEC banner. Coppin State, Delaware State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, and Norfolk State will be playing in the NEC this spring.
- Senior shortstop Alex Haba was a First Team All-NEC selection last season after ranking second in the league in batting (.368), hits (70), and doubles (17).
- Grad student outfielder Michael Golankiewicz led the team with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs last season, and senior outfielder Scott Elliott is also coming off a strong season in which he hit .316 with four homers, 28 RBIs and compiled a .433 OBP.
- Merrimack hit .258 as a team with 38 home runs last season, but their opponents hit .320 with 63 homers. Last year's top starting pitcher Cedric Gillette (4-6, 6.92 ERA) returns as a graduate student.
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Bucknell and Merrimack.
- After returning from Charleston, the Bison will head right back out on the road on Tuesday to face yet another ACC opponent in Pittsburgh. The Panthers dropped 2 of 3 against Maine in Sarasota, Fla., to open the season, and this weekend they head over to Port Charlotte for a four-game series against Harvard.
- Next weekend, Bucknell goes to East Greensboro, N.C., for three games. The Bison will play one game against host North Carolina A&T and two against Western Michigan.
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