Baseball Back Home this Weekend to Host Holy Cross, Army

** NOTE: Due to the forecast of rain on Saturday, this weekend's doubleheaders have been pushed back one day. Bucknell will host Holy Cross on Sunday and Army West Point on Monday. **

Holy Cross (7-12, 0-0 PL) at Bucknell (8-11, 2-2 PL)
When: Sunday, March 24, 12 p.m. (DH)
Where: Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Army West Point (9-11, 0-0 PL) at Bucknell (8-11, 2-2 PL)
When: Monday, March 25, 12 p.m. (DH)
Where: Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell and Navy got a jump on the rest of the Patriot League with a four-game series split last weekend at Depew Field, and now the Bison are back home this weekend for doubleheaders against Holy Cross and Army.
The Crusaders and Black Knights will also play two at Navy this weekend, and Lehigh will visit Lafayette for a four-game series.
The Bison were scheduled to play a non-league game on Wednesday at Penn State, but the contest was postponed due to inclement weather.
Bucknell and Navy alternated wins in last weekend's series. The Midshipmen won the opener 2-0 on a combined two-hit shutout from Luke Grenn and Landon Kruer. Sean Keys' tiebreaking home run and a great start from freshman Jack O'Malley led the Bison to a 5-2 win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. Navy won the nightcap 8-2, but then the Bison scored seven runs in the first inning to return the favor with an 8-2 in the series finale on Sunday.
Those two teams will play a single game in Annapolis on Apr. 17, with the winner claiming the season series. Bucknell won that rubber match last season, which served as the tiebreaker when the Bison and Midshipmen finished tied for second place. Bucknell then swept Navy in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals at Depew Field.
Freshmen pitchers O'Malley and Jonathan Adelmann played a crucial role for the Bison last weekend against Navy. O'Malley pitched six innings in game two of the series, allowing only two unearned runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. Adelmann pitched two strong innings in relief in the opener on Friday, then came back two days later for his first career start in Sunday's series finale. He gave his team four shutout innings, striking out five with only one walk and three hits allowed, and he departed with an 8-0 lead. Graeme Carroll then worked all the way into the ninth inning and earned the win.
O'Malley is now 2-0 on the season with a 4.32 ERA. He has fanned 26 batters in only 16.2 innings. Adelmann is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA and 21 Ks in 17.1 innings of work.
Tyler O'Neill turned in his best start of the year on Friday, allowing just one run over 6.0 innings in the 2-0 loss.
Keys continues to pace the Bison offense with a slash line of .418/.545/.851 for an OPS of 1.396. His tiebreaking homer in game two of the Navy series was his team-leading sixth of the season, and he also had a double and a triple in the 8-2 win on Sunday.
Keys leads the Patriot League in all of the percentage categories, and his nine doubles are also the most in the loop. He is third in the home race behind Lehigh's Justin Butler and Army's Sam Ruta, who have nine apiece.
Jacob Corson is slashing .303/.404/.566 out of the leadoff spot in the lineup. He ranks sixth in the league in RBIs (20), seventh in the league in slugging and ninth in OPS (.970).
Sophomore DH Michael Trommer had a pair of multi-hit games against Navy and went 5-for-13 with two doubles and a triple in the series. He raised his season average to .298.
As a team, Bucknell leads the Patriot League in batting average (.279) and slugging percentage (.436).
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.

Holy Cross at a Glance/Series History

Holy Cross is 7-11 against a difficult non-league schedule. The Crusaders opened the year with series at William & Mary, No. 24 Kansas State, Hawaii, and UC Riverside, and they took a game in each of them.
Holy Cross hit five home runs in a wild 13-11 win at Brown on Tuesday, and then it had a game rained out at UMass Lowell on Wednesday.
The Crusaders are hitting .258 as a team, led by senior Jake McElroy (.326/.464/.698) and junior Chris Baillargeon (.317/.461/.500). McElroy is seventh in the Patriot League batting race, while Baillargeon is 10th. McElroy's 1.162 OPS is fourth-best in the conference.
Senior Alex Bryant has been the best of the Crusaders' starting pitchers thus far. He is coming off two good outings against UC Riverside and Iona and is 1-0 with a 4.81 ERA in five starts.
In the bullpen, junior Luke LeMond has made a team-high eight appearances and is 2-0 with a save and a 4.02 ERA.
Bucknell is 62-69 all-time against Holy Cross. The Crusaders had won 13 of 15 after sweeping a doubleheader in Worcester at this time last season, but the Bison took all three games in Lewisburg later in the season. Bucknell won by scores of 4-2, 7-5, and 7-5 to clinch the No. 2 seed for the Patriot League Tournament.

Army West Point at a Glance/Series History

Army has won five straight Patriot League titles, beating Bucknell in the championship series in each of the last two seasons.
The Black Knights have dropped three straight to fall to 9-11 on the season, They fell 17-7 at home to Siena on Wednesday and now will head to academy-rival Navy for a doubleheader on Saturday.
Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Sam Ruta is off to another strong start, slashing .347/.467/.813 for an OPS of 1.280. Ruta has nine home runs, eight doubles, and 24 RBIs. Ruta is second in the Patriot League behind Keys in slugging, OPS, and doubles.
Chris Barr (.349), William Parker (.312), and Braden Golinski (.309) are also hitting over .300 for the Black Knights, who are hitting .258 as a team.
On the mound, Army has a 6.07 team ERA. Mike Ruggieri leads the starting contingent with a 4.62 ERA.
Bucknell and Army first met in 1910, and the Black Knights have an 87-64 lead in the all-time series.
Army took 6 of 7 from the Bison last season, including a pair of one-sided wins in the Patriot League Tournament final. Bucknell's win was an 11-7 verdict at West Point, as Grant Voytovich went 4-for-5 with a home run, and Jacob Corson and Tyler Dunn also went deep.

Looking Ahead

Bucknell will play a non-league game at Mount St. Mary's next Tuesday before heading back to Worcester, Mass., for a three-game series against Holy Cross next weekend.

Baseball Back Home this Weekend to Host Holy Cross, Army

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Adelmann

Graeme Carroll

Jacob Corson

Tyler Dunn

Sean Keys

Jack O'Malley

Tyler O'Neill

Michael Trommer

Grant Voytovich

Baseball Back Home this Weekend to Host Holy Cross, Army

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Adelmann

Graeme Carroll

Jacob Corson

Tyler Dunn

Sean Keys

Jack O'Malley

Tyler O'Neill

Michael Trommer

Grant Voytovich

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