Bison Gearing Up for Busy Spring Break at Florida Atlantic and Florida International

Tuesday, March 11

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:30 p.m.

Bucknell University

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: Alisa Mitchell

Bison Gearing Up for Busy Spring Break at Florida Atlantic and Florida International

3/10/2025 3:09:00 PM | Baseball

Bucknell (6-6) at Florida Atlantic (12-3)
When: Tuesday, Mar. 11, 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Mar. 12, 4:00 p.m.,
Where: FAU Baseball stadium
Watch: FAU Sports Network
Live Stats

Bucknell (6-6) at Florida International (12-5)
When: Thursday, Mar. 13, 6:30 p.m., Friday, Mar. 14, 6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 15, 5:00 p.m., Sunday, March 16, 12:00 p.m.
Where: FIU Baseball Stadium
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is headed South for the Spring Break to take on two strong opponents in Florida Atlantic (FAU) and Florida International (FIU), each with 12 wins. The Bison are set for a two-game series with FAU on Tuesday and Wednesday before finishing the week with a four-game series with FIU.
The Bison are now 6-6, coming off of its home opening series with Maine this past weekend. Maine stole the first to games with late rallies before the Bison took the series finale 13-9 on Sunday afternoon.
BU dropped its first two games of the series in heartbreaking fashion. Leading 2-1 in the eighth inning of Game 1, a two-out home run put Maine ahead 3-2. Maine would go on to win with a 3-2 final score.
The Bison then broke up a combined perfect game bid in Game 2 with an eighth inning home run. With two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, a dropped fly ball scored all three runs. Maine picked up another run and closed out the game with a 4-1 final score.
After two pitcher's duels on Friday and Saturday, Sunday's contest saw 18 runs through the first three innings. The Bison and Black Bears traded crooked numbers through the early innings with BU taking a 10-8 lead after a three-run third inning.
The Bison had nine hits through the first two games, but ignited in Game 3 for 13 runs on 10 hits. Four Bison had multi-hit games and all nine batters picked up an RBI.
Junior Michael Trommer was 2-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored on Sunday. Trommer gave the Bison the lead for good with a two-run double in the third. Trommer is batting .239 on the season with 11 hits and a team-high 10 RBIs this season.
Senior Tyler Dunn proved to be an integral part of the Bison lineup, returning after missing seven games. Dunn picked up a hit and an RBI in each of the three games this past weekend with three runs scored.
In Game 1, Dunn opened the scoring with an RBI single to right field that brought a second run home via an error. In Game 2, Dunn homered for the first time in nearly two years to give the Bison a 1-0 lead entering the ninth. Leading 11-9 in Game 3, he smoked a two-run double off the top of the wall to give the Bison some big insurance.
Dunn has one hit in each of the five games he's played to start the year, also providing BU with five RBIs. He is currently batting .294 with a 1.017 OPS. Dunn has also walked three times.
Jonathan Adelmann earned Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Monday afternoon after the sophomore continued his incredible start to the season with 4.0 scoreless innings over two outings in relief in Bucknell's series with Maine.
On Friday, the right-hander came on in relief in the eighth, retiring all four batters he faced with two strikeouts. On Sunday, right-hander earned his second save of the season, pitching the final 2.2 innings. Adelmann retired eight straight batters with five strikeouts to end the game, including striking out the side in the ninth.
In 11.2 innings over six appearances, Adelmann sports a 0.00 ERA with 18 strikeouts compared to three walks. Adelmann has allowed just five hits and opponents are batting a measly .125. His 18 strikeouts are good for 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Seniors Tyler O'Neill and Ben Magovern gave the Bison quality starts in Games 1 and 2, respectively. O'Neill tossed 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts. His great day on the mound was dampened by a two-run home run in the eighth that gave Maine the lead.
Magovern was lights out in Game 2, tossing six scoreless innings on the mound as Maine's Caleb Leys was in the midst of perfection. Magovern allowed five hits, three of which came on weak contact for infield hits. Magoverns ERA is now down to 4.05 through three starts.
O'Neill is etching his name into the Bucknell record books. After Saturday's games, O'Neill ranks seventh with 178 strikeouts (tied with Ken Derr '82), 13th with 33 starts on the mound, and 13th with 211.0 innings pitched. O'Neill leads the Bison thus far with a 3.97 ERA and has a 5.46 career ERA.
Senior Billy Kender leads the Bison with a .267 batting average and 12 hits. Kender has provided eight RBIs and 11 runs scored out of the leadoff spot. In the series with Maine, Kender was 4-for-12 at the plate with an RBI and four runs scored.
Junior Hadley Maxwell also has no earned runs to his name to start the year with two saves. H was in line to earn his third save in Game 2 before the dropped fly ball scored three runs and flipped the game. The righty has allowed six hits and eight walks, but has navigated his way out of innings to keep opponents off the board. In 7.0 innings, Maxwell has struck out eight batters.
Michael Trommer and Senior Billy Kender lead the Bison offensively. The two infielders both lead the team with eight hits, seven RBIs and a .242 batting average, and have combined to draw 10 walks. Kender was a problem in the Davidson series, going 6-for-12 at the plate with six RBIs and a home run.
Junior Ryan Facinelli and sophomores Michael Chiravallo and Billy Fluharty each have six hits this season.
Through seven games, the Bison have a .198 team batting average and a 7.44 team ERA, dropping from 9.25. Opponents are batting .299 and have a 3.74 ERA against the Bison.
The Bison are 2-2 against ACC foes. Bucknell won its single game against Pitt, and took Game 2 from Virginia Tech in its opening series.
Against Pitt, seven Bison pitchers combined for a four-hit, 17 strikeout effort. The 17 strikeouts were four shy of the team record of 21, set in 1956 against Franklin & Marshall (all by Don Richards) and in 1989 against Wilkes.
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 228 career wins are second-most in team history, trailing only Hall-of-Famer Gene Depew (591).

Florida Atlantic at a Glance/Series History

Florida Atlantic is a hot 12-3 to start the season, winning each of its first six games. The Owls swept Delaware and Fordham, and took two of three games from both Connecticut and FIU.
The Owls picked up big wins over Miami and UCF in single games. Both Miami and UCF sport 12 wins to start the year. UCF made a run in the NCAA Regional Tournament, falling to Florida State in the finals. On Wednesday, FAU trailed No. 7 Florida 3-2 into the eighth inning before Florida closed out with a 4-2 win.
Florida Atlantic is most recently coming off a three-game series with FIU, in which the Owls took the final two games of the series. In Game 2, the Owls trailed 5-3 before Jake Duer's two-run single tied the game and Nick Romano's RBI single put them in front in the seventh inning. The Owls took then took the series finale with a 6-4 final.
The Owls are batting .302 as a team, averaging 7.5 runs per game. Duer leads the team and the Ammerican Athletic Conference with a .500 batting average, racking up a monster 32 hits in 64 at-bats. Duer has a 1.173 OPS and is fifth on the team with 11 RBIs.
John Martinez (.320) and Marshall Lipsey (.314) are both batting above .300 in 14 games played. Lipsey has big power potential, leading the team with four home runs and a .657 slugging percentage.
The Owls have great depth in the lineup with four other players batting at least .300. Jake Millan (3), Nick Romano (2), Ayden Garcia (2) and Dylan LaPointe (2) all have multiple home runs.
On the mound, the Owls have a 3.83 team ERA and opponents are hitting .233 James Litman and Trey Beard have been dominant in four starts each. Litman sports a team-low 0.93 ERA in 19.1 innings. Beard has a 2.57 ERA in 21.0 innings, and has been a strikeout machine with 43. Both are 2-0 to start the year.
MJ Bollinger and Max Martzolf have each made nine appearances out of the bullpen. Bollinger has five save already as the close, pitching to a 1.93 ERA in 14.0 innings. In 5.2 innings, Martzolf has a 3.18 ERA.
Florida Atlantic had a 28-29 overall record last year and a 12-15 conference record last season. The Owls season ended in the AAC semifinals, falling to Tulane.
This will be the first ever meeting between Bucknell and Florida Atlantic.

Florida Atlantic at a Glance/Series History

Florida International is also off to a hot start to the season, winning its first seven games of the year. FIU is now 12-5, going 5-5 in its last 10 games.
The Panthers are most recently coming off of a series with FAU where the Owls took two-of-three games on the backend of the series.
Florida International swept both Stonehill and Merrimack in four game series, and took two of three games from Delaware. FIU fell to tough opponents in Miami and South Florida in close games, and takes on Florida Gulf Coast in a midweek game on Tuesday.
The Panthers are batting .286 as a team and averaging 8.1 runs per game. Brylan West (.344), Kishon Frett (.328) and Austin Dearing (.300) are all batting over .300 to start the year. West and Frett each have a team-high 22 hits and 21 runs scored. West has launched four home runs and Frett has hit six already. West, Frett and Albert Serrano lead the team with 14 RBIs.
Alex Ulloa is batting .299 and Hector Candelas is batting .292. The top seven batters in the lineup have combined for 82 RBIs.
The Panthers have major power, coming into the week with 28 home runs and 39 extra base hits.
On the mound, FIU has a 2.97 team ERA and opponents are hitting .250. Easton Marks is 2-0 in four starts and leads the team with a 2.04 ERA. In 17.2 innings, Marks has 24 strikeouts. Logan Runde has a 3.15 ERA in six starts and Owen Puk has a 6.11 ERA in five starts.
Juan Villareal has been a top piece out of the bullpen for FIU with a 1.80 ERA in five appearances. In 15.0 innings, Villareal has 23 strikeouts compared to five walks.
This will be the first meeting between the Bison and the Panthers.

Looking Ahead

The Bison start Patriot League play with Navy the following weekend after the Spring Break. The Bison head to Annapolis to take on the Midshipmen in a four-game series starting on Friday, March 21 at 4 p.m.