Friday, March 15
Lewisburg, Pa.
2 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
Navy
Photo by: Lauren Medeiros
Baseball Opens Patriot League Play With Four-Game Home Series with Navy
3/14/2024 1:57:00 PM | Baseball
Navy (8-8, 0-0 PL) at Bucknell (6-9, 0-0 PL)
When:Â Friday-Sunday, March 15-17 (2 p.m./12 p.m. DH/1 p.m.)
Where:Â Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch:Â ESPN+ (Friday and Sunday games)
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
Bucknell at a Glance
Â
When:Â Friday-Sunday, March 15-17 (2 p.m./12 p.m. DH/1 p.m.)
Where:Â Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch:Â ESPN+ (Friday and Sunday games)
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
Bucknell at a Glance
- Patriot League baseball arrives this weekend when Bucknell hosts Navy in a four-game series. The Bison and Midshipmen will play single games on Friday and Sunday, with a doubleheader sandwiched in between on Saturday. Patriot League doubleheaders consist of a seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game. If game one extends to nine or more innings, then the nightcap reverts to a seven-inning game.
- This is a rematch of last season's Patriot League Tournament semifinal series. Bucknell swept the best-two-of-three set, winning by scores of 2-0 and 7-6. Chris DiFiore pitched a three-hit shutout in game one, and Billy Kender's two-out, two-strike, two-RBI single gave the Bison a dramatic walk-off win in game two.
- Bucknell will be looking to get out to a good start in Patriot League play, as its first eight conference games will be at home.
- Bucknell is 2-0 at home this season with wins over Saint Joseph's and Le Moyne and 4-2 in neutral-site games, but the Bison are 0-7 on the road. They dropped four games last week to 2023 NCAA Tournament teams, two of them coming by one run.
- The Bison were swept in a three-game series at No. 22 Campbell last weekend, falling 17-7, 9-8, and 20-5. The series opener was an 8-7 game in the bottom of the eighth before the Fighting Camels put nine runs on the board to blow it open. Campbell rallied from 8-2 down in the second game, with the go-ahead run scoring on a passed ball in the seventh.
- On Tuesday, the Bison dropped a wild 13-12 affair at defending Atlantic 10 champion George Mason. Bucknell trailed that game 9-5 after six innings but took a 10-9 lead on Andrew Swenson's grand slam in the seventh. The Bison then led 12-10 going to the bottom of the ninth, but South Trimble's two-run single capped a three-run rally, giving Mason its fourth walk-off win of the season.
- Bucknell leads the Patriot League in team batting average (.288), slugging percentage (.452), runs per game (7.87) and its .411 on-base percentage is second to Navy's .419. The Midshipmen are a close second in runs per game at 7.75.
- Sean Keys went 4-for-5 with a home run in Bucknell's most recent home game, an 11-2 rout of Le Moyne on March 5. Keys has a hit in every game this season and is riding a 20-game hitting streak dating back to last season. The longest hitting streak in team history is 27 games, set by Randy Ruger in 1969-70 and Kevin Silverman in 1995.
- Keys enters the Navy series with a .444/.575/.870 slash line, which adds up to a 1.445 OPS. He has five home runs, eight doubles, 18 runs batted in, and 14 runs scored. Keys leads the Patriot League in batting average, hits (24), doubles, OPS, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He is third in the league in home runs, trailing Lehigh's Justin Butler (7) and Army's Sam Ruta (6).
- In the national rankings, Keys is 15th in OPS, 17th in OBP, 26th in SLG, and 36th in BA.
- Billy Kender tied a school record with four walks in game one of the Campbell series. He is tied for the league lead with 17 walks on the season, and his 1.21 walks per game ranks 22nd nationally. Kender, who hit his first home run of the season in the Campbell series, is slashing .273/.460/.455 on the season.
- Jacob Corson (.323/.425/.581) leads the team and ranks second in the Patriot League with 19 RBIs, despite hitting in the leadoff spot in the lineup. Corson led off the top of the first inning with his third home run of the season at George Mason, and he now ranks seventh in the Patriot League with a 1.006 OPS. Corson had a 12-game hitting streak snapped in the final game at Campbell, then came back with two hits including the homer at George Mason.
- Freshman shortstop Andrew Swenson has made quite a splash at the plate. Swenson has been sharing time at short with Brady Karp, and he already has three three-hit games this season, including each of the last two. Swenson enters the Navy series 6-for-7 with two homers, a triple, a double, six RBIs, and four runs scored in his last two games against Campbell and George Mason. In eight games (seven starts), he is now slashing .522/.593/1.174 for a whopping 1.767 OPS. Of his 12 hits this season, eight have gone for extra bases, including three home runs.
- First-baseman Tyler Dunn is heating up at the plate. Dunn brings an eight-game hitting streak into the Navy series, and he is coming off his first career four-hit game on Tuesday at George Mason. Dunn was 4-for-5 with a double and three runs scored in that game, and he lifted his season average to .305.
- Bucknell's catching tandem of senior Nic Adamo (.300) and freshman Luke Nascimento (.333) are both hitting .300 or better. Adamo, who has started 11 of the 15 games, is tied for fourth on the team with 10 RBIs.
- The Bison will be looking for more consistent strike-throwing on the mound as Patriot League play gets started. The pitching staff has walked 119 batters in 119 innings, and the team ERA inflated to 9.53 after the 13-12 loss at George Mason.
- Sophomore Mikey Myro is 2-0 on the season had had an excellent start against Le Moyne in the most recent home game. He made his first career start against the Dolphins and allowed only one run on three hits in 5.0 innings.     Â
- Myro is not the only Bison to earn his first career win this season. Sophomore Hadley Maxwell and freshmen Jack O'Malley and Jonathan Adelmann have done so as well. Â
- Head coach Scott Heather is in his 12th season at the helm, tying him with Bill Lane (1946-57) as the third-longest tenured coach in program history. Heather's 207 career wins are second-most in team history, trailing only Hall-of-Famer Gene Depew (591).
- In each of the past two seasons, Bucknell has fallen to Army in the best 2-of-3 Patriot League championship series. The Black Knights have won each of the last five titles. Army and Bucknell were picked 1-2 in this year's preseason poll.
- Navy is 8-8 on the season under first-year head coach Chuck Ristano, who took over the program after 13 seasons as the pitching coach at Notre Dame and the 2023 season in the same role at Florida State.
- Navy has won four of its last five games, including taking 2 of 4 in a home series with Princeton and a mid-week 17-3 rout at Delaware State. Earlier in the season, the Midshipmen took 2 of 3 at Elon, they got swept in a three-game series against Air Force, and they dropped 2 of 3 at home against Iona.
- Navy was picked third in the Patriot League preseason poll, one spot behind Bucknell. Pitchers Landon Kruer and Matthew Shirah along with shortstop Eduardo Diaz were all named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
- Navy comes into the weekend hitting .268 as a team. Brock Murtha is off to a red-hot start, slashing .400/.566/.600, and he ranks second in the Patriot League behind Bucknell's Sean Keys in batting average, hits (22), and OBP. Murtha also ranks fourth in the league in OPS (1.166) and third in doubles (6). Murtha, in his second year at Navy after transferring from Notre Dame, hit a home run against the Bison last season. He also pitches and has one save in four relief outings this year.
- Zane Raba (.323) and Logan Keller (.318) are also hitting over .300 for the Midshipmen, while Diaz leads the squad in homers (3) and RBIs (16).
- Navy leads the Patriot League with 34 stolen bases, with Murtha (11) and Raba (10) in double digits already. By contrast, Bucknell has stolen only nine bases as a team.
- Navy also leads the league in fewest errors with 13.
- The Midshipmen enter the weekend with a 7.19 team ERA. Friday starter Tyler Grenn has been the team's most effective arm with a 1-1 record and a 3.00 ERA.
- Bucknell and Navy have met 178 times in a series that dates back to 1904. The Midshipmen hold a 94-83-1 lead in the series. The Bison have won five straight and 12 of the last 17 on the heels of a Navy 10-game winning streak.
- Bucknell is 18-10 against Navy in Patriot League Tournament action, including 2-0 last season.
- These two teams met seven times in 2023. Navy won the first two before the Bison won the next five. Bucknell came back to edge Navy 3-2 in the regular-season series, which served as the tiebreaker as the two teams tied for second place with 14-11 Patriot League records. That allowed the Bison to host the PL Tournament semifinal series, which they ended up winning on the Billy Kender walk-off.
- Bucknell hit .326 against Navy pitching in the seven games last season, and the Bison outscored the Mids 49-29. Tyler Dunn led the way with a .440 average (11-25). Among other Bison returnees, Jacob Corson hit .400, Grant Voytovich .318, Billy Kender .308, and Sean Keys .280. Keys and Corson hit home runs.
- Navy will be glad not to have to face LHP Ben Magovern, who is currently out with an injury, and shortstop Anthony Sherwin, who signed with the Astros after last season. Magovern went 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two starts against the Midshipmen last season, including a win in Bucknell's season series-clinching win at Depew Field. Sherwin hit .456 (31-68) in his three-year career against Navy, including two four-hit games and two games with at least five RBIs.
- Logan Keller (.360) and Murtha (.304) were Navy's top hitters against Bucknell last season. The Mids hit .265 in the series.Â
- Following the Navy series, Bucknell will play a single game at Penn State on Tuesday, and then Holy Cross and Army will be in Lewisburg for Patriot League doubleheaders next Saturday and Sunday.
Â
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
1B
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballMount St. Mary's Men's Water Polo Vs. Mercyhurst (10/11/25)
Saturday, October 11
(Coaches Camera) Mount St. Mary's Men's Water Polo Vs. Mercyhurst (10/11/25)
Saturday, October 11
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Vs. Mercyhurst (10/10/25)
Saturday, October 11
(Coaches Camera) Bucknell Men's Water Polo Vs. Mercyhurst (10/10/25)
Saturday, October 11