Friday, March 8
Buies Creek, N.C.
6 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
Campbell
Photo by: Lauren Medeiros
Baseball Faces Two 2023 NCAA Teams in No. 22 Campbell, George Mason to Start Spring Break Week
3/7/2024 12:50:00 PM | Baseball
Bucknell (6-5) at #22 Campbell (8-4)
When:Â Friday-Sunday, March 8-10 (6 p.m./3 p.m./1 p.m.)
Where:Â Jim Perry Stadium, Buies Creek, N.C.
Watch: FloBaseball
Live Stats:Â GoCamels.com
Bucknell (6-5) at George Mason (5-6)
When:Â Tuesday, March 12, 2 p.m.
Where:Â Spuhler Field, Fairfax, Va.
Live Stats:Â GoMason.com
Bucknell at a Glance
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When:Â Friday-Sunday, March 8-10 (6 p.m./3 p.m./1 p.m.)
Where:Â Jim Perry Stadium, Buies Creek, N.C.
Watch: FloBaseball
Live Stats:Â GoCamels.com
Bucknell (6-5) at George Mason (5-6)
When:Â Tuesday, March 12, 2 p.m.
Where:Â Spuhler Field, Fairfax, Va.
Live Stats:Â GoMason.com
Bucknell at a Glance
- The Bucknell baseball team has a challenging week ahead, taking on two teams that won twice in NCAA Regionals last season. The Bison kick off a busy Spring Break week with a three-game series at 22nd-ranked Campbell, the two-time defending Big South champion that finished 46-14 last season, including a 20-4 record at home, and won two games in the Columbia Regional. On the way home, Bucknell will stop in Fairfax, Va., for a single game against reigning Atlantic 10 champion George Mason. The Patriots went 2-2 at the Winston-Salem Regional in 2023.Â
- The Bison improved to 6-5 on the season after routing Le Moyne 11-2 on Tuesday at Depew Field. On its last trip south two weeks ago, Bucknell took 3 of 4 from UMass in Colonial Heights, Va. The Minutemen came back the following week to take a game from No. 13 Virginia in a closely contested series. Bucknell dropped 2 of 3 to Saint Joseph's last weekend before downing the Dolphins on Tuesday.
- The Bison bring a Patriot League-best .290 team batting average to Campbell this weekend, and junior third baseman Sean Keys is off to a blazing start.
- Keys, who was listed as the No. 7 third baseman in D1Baseball's preseason positional rankings, enters the weekend leading the nation in on-base percentage (.654), and he ranks fifth nationally in slugging (1.081) and OPS (1.735), and 13th in batting average (.514).
- Keys is 19-for-37 at the plate with five home runs and six doubles, and he has also drawn nine walks and been hit by six pitches. He leads the Patriot League in hits, homers, doubles, and all of the percentage categories.
- Keys hit a 429-foot home run as part of a 4-for-5 day against Le Moyne on Tuesday. The dinger was the 19th of his career, tying him for eighth place on Bucknell's all-time list along with Kevin Silverman, Russ Lindberg, and Ben Yoder.
- Senior left-fielder Jacob Corson is also off to a strong start. Hitting in the leadoff spot in front of Keys, Corson leads the Patriot League in RBIs with 18 and is slashing .372/.481/.651 for an OPS of 1.132. He ranks fourth in the Patriot League in batting and fifth in slugging, OBP, and OPS.
- Bucknell has gotten good offensive production from its catching tandem of senior Nic Adamo (.370/.375/.444 in eight games) and freshman Luke Nascimento (.364/.417/.364 in three games). Adamo ranks 14th nationally with three sacrifice flies and is ninth in the PL with 10 RBIs.
- Freshman Andrew Swenson has started five of the 11 games at shortstop, sharing time with junior Brady Karp. Swenson is off to a hot start, slashing .400/.471/.800 with four of his six hits going for extra bases. He went 3-for-4 against Wofford in his collegiate debut and belted his first career home run against UMass.
- Swenson and Karp have succeeded All-Patriot League shortstop Anthony Sherwin, who signed with the Houston Astros following his junior season in 2023.
- All-Patriot League outfielder Grant Voytovich got off to a slow start to his senior season but broke out on Tuesday with a homer, a double, and four RBIs in the win over Le Moyne. It was his 11th career home run.
- On the mound, the Bison pitchers have had some command issues in the early going, but there have been some bright spots.
- Senior sidewinder Graeme Carroll has been outstanding out of the bullpen with a win and two saves among his five appearances. Carroll sports a 2.53 ERA and opponents are hitting only .209 against him. Carroll was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week after throwing 5.1 hitless, scoreless innings and recording two saves in the UMass series.
- Sophomore Mikey Myro is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in three appearances. His first collegiate win came in relief against UMass on Feb. 25, and then on Tuesday he made his first career start against Le Moyne and allowed only one run on three hits in 5.0 innings. Â Â Â Â 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.
- Bucknell and Campbell will be meeting for the first time this weekend.
- The Fighting Camels enter the weekend with an 8-4 record and are ranked No. 22 in this week's D1Baseball poll. Among their wins are two against No. 17 UC Santa Barbara and one against No. 11 East Carolina. Campbell also swept three games from Ohio University and took 2 of 3 from Georgia Southern. Three of their four losses are at the hands of ranked opponents: No. 17 UCSB, No. 22 Coastal Carolina, and No. 16 North Carolina.
- Campbell fell 7-3 to the Tar Heels at home on Tuesday. It was a 3-3 game until UNC scored four times in the top of the ninth.
- Campbell is in its first year competing in the Coastal Athletic Association after moving over from the Big South. The Fighting Camels were picked third in the CAA preseason poll behind Northeastern and UNC Wilmington.
- Junior catcher/pitcher Grant Knipp and senior outfielder Lawson Harrill were both Preseason All-CAA selections. Harrill, who piled up 22 home runs and 69 RBIs on the way to Big South Player of the Year honors last season, was also named an NCBWA Preseason All-American and to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List.
- Knipp (.486/.658/1.200) and Lawson (.364/.482/.727) are once again leading the Camels' offense. Knipp (7) and Lawson (4) have combined for 11 of the team's 21 home runs. Knipp's 1.848 OPS leads all Division I hitters and is just a few percentage points ahead of Bucknell's Sean Keys, who is fifth at 1.735.
- Friday starter Zach Sabers is 2-0 with a 5.06 ERA in three starts, with the wins coming against UCSB and Ohio. Freshman Cooper Clark (1-0, 6.92) is also expected to start in the series and has 14 strikeouts in 13 innings in three starts.
- In the back end of the bullpen, Packy Bradley-Cooney (1-0, 1.59) and Knipp (0-0, 2.70) have two saves apiece.
- Campbell went 2-2 in the NCAA Columbia Regional last season. The Camels defeated Central Connecticut State 10-5 and NC State 11-1 but were eliminated in a 16-7 loss to host South Carolina. Campbell had four players drafted from last year's squad, including second-rounder Cade Kuehler by the Braves.
- This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bison and Patriots.
- George Mason is 5-6 on the season and, like Bucknell, will also be playing a three-game series against a CAA team this weekend. The Patriots host Monmouth at Spuhler Field before the Bison come to town for a single game on Tuesday.
- George Mason is coming off a three-game home sweep of Fairfield, winning by scores of 3-0, 8-0, and 9-8. The Patriots scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth in game three, capped by a two-out, two-run single from Ben Jones.
- George Mason is the defending Atlantic 10 champion. The Patriots won five games in the A10 Tournament, including three elimination games, and downed Saint Louis 6-2 in the A10 final. They then went 2-2 in the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional. They defeated Northeastern and Maryland but fell twice to ACC power Wake Forest.
- George Mason was picked second behind Saint Louis in this year's Atlantic 10 preseason poll. The Patriots returned 11 position players and 11 pitchers from last year's roster, including two weekend starters. One of those was 2023 A10 Pitcher of the Year Chad Gartland.
- James Quinn-Irons (.343/.477/.657), Jones (.343/.410/.371), South Trimble (.310/.388/.439), and Jordan Smith (.306/.413/.556) have paced the GMU offense through 11 games. The Patriots hit .290 as a team, and they like to run. They have stolen 20 bases this season after ranking third nationally with 164 SBs in 63 games a year ago.
- George Mason got out to a slow start on the mound, albeit against a difficult schedule, before posting the back-to-back shutouts against Fairfield last weekend. Its team ERA now stands at 9.20.
- Campbell and George Mason will serve as good prep for the start of Patriot League play, as Bucknell hosts Navy in a four-game series March 15-17. The Bison went 3-2 against the Midshipmen in the 2023 regular season and then swept the best-of-three Patriot League Tournament semifinal series at Depew Field.
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