Baseball Holds off Holy Cross to Clinch No. 2 Seed in Patriot League Tournament

Monday, May 1

Lewisburg, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

21-21-1, 0

Holy Cross

13-33, 0

Holy Cross

Bucknell

Baseball Holds off Holy Cross to Clinch No. 2 Seed in Patriot League Tournament

5/1/2023 6:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Anthony Sherwin and Sean Keys homered in support of a quality start from Tyler O'Neill, and the Bucknell baseball team locked up the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with a 7-5 win over Holy Cross on Monday at Depew Field.

The Bison improved to 21-21-1 overall and 14-11 in the Patriot League. Navy also moved to 14-11 with a win over Lehigh on Monday, and fourth-place Lafayette (10-11) can still get to 14 wins if it can sweep doubleheaders from Holy Cross and Army next weekend, but Bucknell owns tiebreakers over both the Midshipmen and Leopards.

Bucknell will host third-seeded Navy in a Patriot League Tournament semifinal series in two weeks, while top-seeded Army will host either Lafayette or Lehigh in the other semi.

After the finale of the three-game series against Holy Cross was washed out on Sunday, Monday's contest started off much like both games of Saturday's doubleheader, with the Crusaders jumping on top in the first inning. This time it was a two-run homer from Jack Toomey, who would go on to finish the day 3-for-5 with four runs batted in.

The home run ball was the only real blemish for the sophomore O'Neill (3-4), who worked into the seventh inning and allowed three runs on six hits with six strikeouts.

After Bucknell stranded three men in scoring position over the first two innings, Sherwin led off the bottom of the third with a towering home run that sailed 428 feet over the wall in right. Jacob Corson reached on a wind-blown pop-up that fell in for a hit, and after a pair of walks, Billy Kender hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Between innings the weather front intensified, bringing 40 mph wind gusts, sideways rain, and even some hail. Chris Baillargeon hit what seemed to be a routine fly ball to right on the first pitch of the inning, but it blew all the way off the wall for a double. After a sacrifice bunt, play was halted for 29 minutes as the rain picked up even more, and then on the first pitch after the delay C.J. Egrie put the Crusaders back in front with a sacrifice fly.

Augie Walters (2-3) replaced Holy Cross starting pitcher Sean Scanlon in the bottom of the fourth, and the Bison flipped the game around with a three-run rally, all coming after the first two batters were retired. Sherwin, who finished a triple shy of the cycle en route to his ninth game of the year with at least three hits, started the uprising with a hustle double into the gap in left-center.

Substitute Mason Kelly followed with a clutch base hit to center to bring home Sherwin with the tying run. After two walks loaded the bases, Tyler Dunn pulled a ball through the hole off lefty reliever Jake McOsker to plate two runs and give the Bison a 5-3 lead.

HUGE 2-out RBI single for Mason Kelly ties the game, and later in the inning Tyler Dunn drove in two with a base hit and the Bison are now on top 5-3! #rayBucknell

Watch: https://t.co/fJh96279NM @PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/tnh6WbEBun
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) May 1, 2023

Holy Cross reliever Ben Talbot struck out the side in the fifth, but in the sixth Sherwin led off with a single and moved up to second when the ball got away from Egrie in center. Two batters later, Keys crushed a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right for a 7-3 lead.

It was Keys' 12th home run of the season, tying him with Kevin Silverman (1996) for sixth place on Bucknell's single-season chart. His 54 RBIs also rank No. 6 all-time.

Here's a look at the Sean Keys blast in the 6th. His 12th homer of the year moves him into a tie for 6th with Kevin Silverman on Bucknell's single-season list. #rayBucknell

Watch: https://t.co/fJh96279NM @PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/S4jXfqYBhe
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) May 1, 2023

O'Neill retired the first two batters in the seventh before Jake McElroy doubled. Nick Mulvey issued a walk but then froze Toomey with a backdoor slider on a 3-2 pitch to strand the two runners. Theo Farynick came out of the bullpen to get the final two outs in the eighth, but Holy Cross did not go quietly in the ninth.

With two on and one out, Farynick struck out the dangerous Sean Scanlon, but Toomey's two-out, two-run single made it a 7-5 game. Ryan Osinski entered to face cleanup hitter Connor Cooney as the tying run. Cooney fouled off a tough 1-2 pitch and then hit a line drive that was snared by a lunging Sherwin at shortstop to end the game.

Osinski earned his eighth save of the season, which is now the third-most in team history and three shy of Phil Futrick's record of 11 in 2003.

Bucknell outhit Holy Cross 11-9, with Sherwin (3-5), Keys (2-2), and catcher Nic Adamo (2-4) all recording multi-hit games. Keys also walked twice and was on base in all four of his plate appearances.

The Bison will now take a break for final exams before returning to face Navy in the Patriot League Tournament. Dates and times for that semifinal series are to be announced.

Bucknell won three of the five games against the Midshipmen during the regular season, winning the final three after Navy had taken the first two. This will be the first postseason meeting between the two teams since 2017, when Bucknell swept a semifinal series in Annapolis.