Baseball Set for Series at Davidson

Bucknell (1-2) at Davidson (1-2)
When: Friday, Feb. 21, 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 22, 1:30 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m.
Where: Wilson Field, Davidson, N.C.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: DavidsonWildcats.com

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison head down to Davidson this weekend for a three-game series with Game 1 set for 5 p.m. on Friday.
Bucknell comes in with a 1-2 record after a tough opponent in Virginia Tech in a frigid opening weekend. The Hokies poured on the offense in Games 2 and 3, winning 19-0 and 27-1, respectively.
The Bison shook off the Game 1 loss with a big 8-6 win in Game 2, highlighted by reigning PL Rookie of the Year Chris Morabito's bases-clearing triple in the seventh inning to give the Bison the lead.
The bullpen was fantastic in the game, allowing just an unearned run in 5.1 innings to shut the door and give the Bison their first win of the year. Junior Hadley Maxwell picked up the save in his only appearance of the weekend. Maxwell struck out two batters in his inning of work. Freshman Tyler Hawkins made a great debut for the Bison. The rookie stifled all four batters he faced to earn the first win of his career.
Junior Ryan DeLaney and sophomore Jonathan Adelmann delivered strong performances in relief for the Bison. Adelmann was the set-up man in the win, tossing scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. DeLaney turned in a scoreless inning in Bucknell's Game 1 loss.
It was a tough start at the plate for the Bison in opening weekend. Senior Tyler Dunn and sophomores Michael Chiaravallo and Morabito were the only Bison with multiple hits over the three-game series. Dunn was 2-for-6 with two walks in the first two games before an injury kept him out of game three.
Six other Bison picked up a hit over the weekend. The Bison drew 15 walks in the series but struck out 39 times at the plate.
The Bison will head south once again this season. The Bison take on Florida Atlantic in a two-game series before a four-game set with Florida International over the spring break (Mar. 11-16).
Head coach Scott Heather is in his 13th season at the helm, passing Bill Lane (1946-57) as the third-longest tenured coach in program history. Heather's 224 career wins are second-most in team history, trailing only Hall-of-Famer Gene Depew (591).

Davidson at a Glance/Series History

The Wildcats are 1-2 to open the season. Davidson split a doubleheader with Bryant on Friday then fell to Gardner-Webb on Tuesday evening.
Davidson won the nightcap of its doubleheader on Friday 3-2 over Bryant. The Wildcats trailed 2-0 in the game, going hitless through six innings before scoring a run in each of the final three innings. With the bases loaded in a tie game in the ninth, Michael O'Shaughnessy was hit by a pitch for the walk-off win.
O'Shaughnessy has produced a great first three games, going 4-for-9 at the plate with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. He also drew a walk and was hit by a pitch three times.
Jamie Daly is 3-for-8 with two RBI and two walks to start the season. Jack Cotrone and Eli Putnam also have multiple hits and have combined to draw six walks thus far.
Putnam was one of the premiere hitters in the Atlantic 10 last season. Putnam ranked fifth in the league in batting average (.354), first in home runs (16), first in slugging percentage (.682), fourth in RBI (58), and second in OPS (1.141).
Isaac Fix made an impressive start to his season on the mound in the 3-2 win over Bryant. Fix allowed two hits over five innings and struck out five batters. Fix posted a 5.96 ERA in 19 appearances for the Wildcats in 2024. Daniel Smith and Will Perkins made starts in Davidson's other two games.
Jakub Vokal and Jason Ban have each pitched two scoreless innings in relief thus far. Ban pitched to a team-low 4.26 ERA last season in 15 appearances with two starts.
The Wildcats look to return to the A10 tournament this season after going 24-28 last year with a 10-14 conference record.
This will be the second-ever meeting between the Bison and the Wildcats. The Bison defeated Davidson 8-0 in a single game back in 2017.

Looking Ahead

Following the Davidson series, Bucknell is slated to play a single game against Pitt on Tuesday, Feb. 25 before opening its home schedule on Saturday, March 1 against another Atlantic 10 foe in Saint Joseph's. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at noon, and then they will head to Philadelphia for a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Jonathan Adelmann

Michael Chiaravallo

Ryan DeLaney

Tyler Dunn

Tyler Hawkins

Hadley Maxwell

Chris Morabito