Saturday, April 15
Lewisburg, Pa.
12 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
Army
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Baseball Welcomes First-Place Army for Three-Game Weekend Set
4/13/2023 10:05:00 PM | Baseball
Army West Point (21-12, 9-2 PL) at Bucknell (15-17, 8-7 PL)
When:Â Saturday, Apr. 15, 12 p.m. (DH); Sunday, Apr. 16, 1 p.m.
Where:Â Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming:Â ESPN+ (Sunday only)
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
Bucknell at a Glance
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When:Â Saturday, Apr. 15, 12 p.m. (DH); Sunday, Apr. 16, 1 p.m.
Where:Â Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Streaming:Â ESPN+ (Sunday only)
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
Bucknell at a Glance
- After playing nine straight games on the road, the Bison return to Depew Field for the first time in the month of April as first-place Army comes to town. Bucknell has won eight straight home games and is 8-1 at Depew Field this season, and now the Bison will have seven of their final 10 Patriot League games here in Lewisburg.
- Bucknell slipped to fourth place in the Patriot League standings after dropping 2 of 3 at Lafayette last weekend, but the Bison do have a three-game cushion on fifth-place Holy Cross. Army leads the way with a 9-2 PL record, followed by Navy (10-5), Lafayette (6-5), Bucknell (8-7), Holy Cross (3-8), and Lehigh (1-10). The top four teams qualify for the Patriot League Tournament.
- Elsewhere this weekend, Lafayette hosts Navy and Holy Cross entertains Lehigh in three-game series.
- Bucknell was an 8-5 winner over Lafayette in the opener of last weekend's three-game series, but the Leopards took the next two, 8-7 in 12 innings and 17-11. The Bison then dropped a non-league game at UMBC on Tuesday, 9-5.
- Bucknell and Army split a doubleheader at West Point on Apr. 2. The Black Knights took the opener 7-0 before the Bison got the bats going in an 11-7 win in the nightcap. Army has not lost since then and brings an eight-game winning streak to Lewisburg.
- These two teams also met in last year's Patriot League championship series. Army won the third and deciding game in the best-of-three series.
- Sean Keys earned his second Patriot League Player of the Week honor in the last three weeks on Tuesday. Keys continued to provide a hot bat in the middle of the Bucknell lineup, and last week he provided two more last-at-bat, game-winning hits in wins over Penn State and Lafayette. In four games last week, Keys slashed .450/.500/.750 and recorded a home run, three doubles, and 13 runs batted in. In last week's wild 17-14 win at Penn State, Keys went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs, including a dramatic three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that snapped a 14-all tie. One game later, Keys piled up five more RBIs, capped by a three-run double off the wall in right-center that erased a one-run deficit in the top of the seventh and final inning at Lafayette.
- Just a few hours after the Player of the Week award was announced, Keys hit a grand slam in his first at-bat at UMBC. He now has a Patriot League-high 43 RBIs on the season. Keys ranks seventh in the league in batting average (.333), second in slugging percentage (.633), and third in home runs (8) and OPS (1.059).
- Anthony Sherwin has now played in enough games to qualify for the Patriot League batting title, and he now ranks fourth at .349. Sherwin leads the league in on-base percentage (.495) and ranks sixth in OPS (1.001). Despite missing nine games early in the season, Sherwin is third in the league with 24 walks, only one behind teammate Jacob Corson and Holy Cross' Sean Scanlon.
- Kyle Lyons (.339) had two hits at UMBC on Tuesday and is hitting .339 on the season, giving the Bison a big lift from the No. 9 spot in the order.
- Bucknell has also gotten a big lift from Chris Klein and Nic Adamo, who are both hitting .400 on the season. Klein, who typically DHs against righthanded pitching, is 18-for-45 with six doubles. Adamo, the No. 2 catcher who has been splitting doubleheaders with Jake Wortman, is 14-for-35 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 15 games.
- Bucknell ranks second in the Patriot League in hitting with a .289 team batting average, just behind Lehigh at .292 and just ahead of Army at .285. Bucknell's 7.1 runs per game are the most in the league, and its .399 team OBP is also No. 1.
- In Patriot League games, Bucknell tops the Patriot League in hitting with a .320 average. Army is next at .295.
- The Bison are looking for improvement on the mound after allowing 86 runs in their last nine games. Bucknell does have a stellar 1.85 team ERA at home this season. Â
- The Black Knights have been the Patriot League's top program of late, winning the last three championships.
- Army does have a new head coach this season after Jim Foster departed to take the head job at Northwestern. Chris Tracz took over last July after 13 seasons in charge at Marist.
- After dropping the second game of a doubleheader to Bucknell on Apr. 2, Army came back the next day and swept a twin bill from academy rival Navy. The Black Knights won a midweek game at Siena, then swept a three-get set from Lehigh, and this week they ran their winning streak to eight with non-league home wins over Stony Brook and Sacred Heart.
- Army has allowed only 19 runs during this eight-game winning streak, and its 4.02 team ERA is by far the best in the Patriot League. The Black Knights are the only staff in the league averaging better than a strikeout per inning. In Patriot League play, Army's team ERA is a minuscule 1.85.
- Offensively, Kevin Dubrule is leading the league in hitting with a .406 average. Ross Friedrick (.333) and Derek Berg (.329) are also hitting well over .300 and share the team lead in home runs with seven apiece. Those three, along with Sam Ruta (.311, 6 HR) were all featured on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, with the shortstop Dubrule selected as the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
- Mike Ruggieri (4-1, 2.57) and Tanner Gresham (3-1, 2.87) have been Army's top starting pitchers this season. Gresham spun a seven-inning, three-hit shutout against Bucknell earlier this season. Â
- Bucknell is 64-82 all-time against Army dating back to 1910 but is 9-6 over the last 15 meetings.
- Last season, the Bison won three of the five regular-season meetings, including a doubleheader sweep at Depew Field, but Army earned the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and won 2-of-3 in the championship series at Doubleday Field. The Black Knights rallied late to take the opener 8-7, Bucknell won game two 13-3, and then Army parlayed a six-run first inning into a 12-2 verdict in the finale to claim the title.
- After Gresham blanked the Bison in game one of the doubleheader earlier this month, Jacob Corson and Tyler Dunn homered in the first inning of the nightcap, and Grant Voytovich and Sean Keys added long balls later in the game as part of a 15-hit attack. Voytovich went 4-for-5 in the 11-7 win.Â
- Bucknell and Navy wrap up their season series with a single game at Depew Field next Wednesday, and then the Bison visit Lehigh for a three-game set on Apr. 22-23.
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