Bucknell University
18-22
Villanova
14-24
Baseball Bashes Three More Homers in 18-10 Win over Villanova
4/23/2024 8:32:00 PM | Baseball
Bucknell scored runs in every inning except the sixth, and seven of its 16 hits went for extra bases. The Bison hit six home runs in a doubleheader at Army West Point on Saturday, and they now have nine long balls in their last four games.
The top four hitters in the lineup – Kender, Keys, Corson, and Trommer – combined to go 11-for-17 with 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored. Kender tied team records for runs scored (5) and walks (4) in a game. He is the fourth Bison to touch the plate five times and the first since Matt Capece against Navy in 2005. Kender also matched the single-game walks record for the second time this season, as he also drew four free passes at Campbell early in the season. There have now been eight four-walk games in team history, with the last to do it before Kender current assistant coach Brett Smith in 2014.
The Bison (18-22) got out to a shaky start as freshman Dante Pavone hit the first three Villanova batters to start the game. But he got a big double-play ground ball to escape further damage. Bucknell quickly surged ahead in the bottom of the first when Trommer hit a towering drive off the batter's eye in straightaway centerfield. The three-run shot was his second home run of the year.
Here's a look at the Michael Trommer 3-run homer in the first inning. It was a towering shot to straightaway center. #rayBucknell
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) April 23, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/NhWGWYeHN1@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/bon5j4XMiW
Pavone ran into more command trouble in the second, but Graeme Carroll came in with the bases loaded and one out and a run already in and induced another double play. Keys fielded a ground ball at third, stepped on the bag and made a strong throw across the diamond to keep it a 3-2 game.
Karp, a junior shortstop who belted a grand slam for his first career homer on Saturday at Army, made it two homers in three games with a solo shot to left in the second to make it 4-2. The teams alternated two-run innings until Bucknell took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth.
Brady Karp goes downtown and the Bison take a 4-2 lead in the 2nd inning! All four runs have come on long balls, and that's now 8 homers for the team in the last 4 games. #rayBucknell
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) April 23, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/NhWGWYeHN1@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/YL4Jl519Fw
Keys' RBI ground out snapped a 6-6 tie, and then Corson ripped an RBI double into the right-field corner for an 8-6 lead. Shane Solari's two-out RBI double in the fifth brought Villanova within 8-7, but then the Bison found some breathing room in the bottom half.
The Bison already had a run in on a balk, and then Keys ambushed reliever Zach Camp, smashing his first pitch deep over the wall in right-center for a no-doubt grand slam and a 13-7 lead.
SEAN KEYS HITS ONE TO THE MOON! His 454-foot grand slam gives the Bison a 13-7 lead in the 5th inning. #rayBucknell
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) April 23, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/NhWGWYeHN1@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN | @D1Baseball | @NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/fIns26oofi
Grant Voytovich just missed a homer with a shot off the top of the center-field wall in the seventh, but it turned into a two-run triple. Tyler Dunn followed with a sharp single to center to make it 16-8. Villanova scored twice in the eighth on Scott Shaw's RBI triple and a sac fly from Jason Neff, but consecutive RBI doubles from Keys and Corson rounded out the scoring in the eighth.
Nick Mulvey retired the first two batters on two pitches in the ninth, and two batters later retired Jack O'Reilly on a routine fly ball to center to end the game.
Villanova used seven pitchers and Bucknell five, with all but Mulvey charged with runs on their ledgers on a warm day that belonged to the bats. Carroll worked 3.2 innings in relief and earned the win to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Dylan Dennis and Shaw had two hits each for Villanova, which had nine hits in the game to go along with five walks and eight hit batters. Wildcat pitchers hit three Bison for a total of 11 HBPs in the game.
Keys, who is now hitting .397 on the season, moved into sole possession of third place on Bucknell's career home run list with 25. This was his second career six-RBI game, with the other coming in a win at Penn State last season.
Corson (116) and Keys (114) moved into the 8-9 spots on Bucknell's career RBI chart, and Voytovich picked up his 99th career RBI. Corson hit two doubles against Villanova and now has 41 in his career, moving him past Hall-of-Famer Joe Markulike for sixth in team history.
Bucknell wraps up the regular season with a three-game weekend series with Lafayette at Depew Field. There will be single games on Friday
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carroll, Graeme (4-0)
L: Schwede, Rian (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Dennis, Dylan 1 ; O'Reilly, Jack 1 ; Solari, Shane 1
3B: Shaw, Scott 1
RBI: Dennis, Dylan 2 ; O'Reilly, Jack 1 ; Shaw, Scott 1 ; Neff, Jason 1 ; Whooley, Michael 1 ; Valdez,Josue 1 ; Solari, Shane 1
SF: Neff, Jason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dennis, Dylan 2 ; O'Reilly, Jack 2 ; Shaw, Scott 2 ; Whooley, Michael 1 ; Valdez,Josue 1 ; Hassert, Cameron 1 ; Hansen, AJ 1
HBP: Dennis, Dylan 2 ; O'Reilly, Jack 2 ; Shaw, Scott 1 ; Whooley, Michael 1 ; Solari, Shane 1 ; Hansen, AJ 1
Batting:
2B: Keys, Sean 1 ; Corson, Jacob 2
3B: Voytovich, Grant 1
HR: Keys, Sean 1 ; Trommer, Michael 1 ; Karp, Brady 1
RBI: Keys, Sean 6 ; Corson, Jacob 2 ; Trommer, Michael 3 ; Voytovich, Grant 2 ; Facinelli, Ryan 1 ; Dunn, Tyler 1 ; Karp, Brady 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kender, Billy 5 ; Keys, Sean 3 ; Corson, Jacob 1 ; Trommer, Michael 3 ; Voytovich, Grant 1 ; Nascimento, Luke 1 ; Chiaravallo, Michael 1 ; Karp, Brady 3
SB: Trommer, Michael 1
HBP: Voytovich, Grant 1 ; Karp, Brady 2
