Baseball Back on the Road to Face Lafayette

Saturday, April 4

Easton, Pa.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Lafayette

Photo by: Alisa Mitchell

4/2/2026 11:51:00 AM | Baseball

Bucknell (15-11, 8-1 PL) at Lafyette (7-17, 3-6 PL)
When: Saturday 12 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, 12 p.m.
Where: Kamine Stadium | Easton, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Stats: GoLeopards.com

The Bucknell baseball team heads to Easton this weekend to take on Lafayette in a three-game series at Kamine Stadium. The series kicks off with a doubleheader on Saturday before the series finale on Sunday.

Bucknell Lafayette are playing their best baseball and are both hot coming into the series. The Bison have won seven in a row and are coming off of a 7-3 non-conference win over La Salle on Tuesday. The Leopards have won five in a row and are coming off of two midweek wins over Villanova and Manhattan.

In the Patriot League, the Bison swept Lehigh last weekend and Lafayette swept the reigning champions, Holy Cross, on the road.

The Bison have won 11 of their last 12 games and are 8-1 in Patriot League play after a weekend sweep over Lehigh. The Bison posted a 3-2 comeback win in game one before a 6-3 win in game two to win the series. Andrew Swenson then walked off game three in the ninth for a 12-11 win.

Bucknell's start in the Patriot League is its best start in conference play since the Bison started 9-0 back in 2001 under Hall of Fame head coach Gene Depew. The Bison began the season 1-7, but have gone 14-4 and are four games over .500.

Over the last 12 games, Bucknell is batting .288 as a team and are scoring 6.8 runs per game. The Bison are outscored opponents 82-50 over that span and pitchers have a 3.43 ERA. Over those five games, John Calabrese (.379), Garrett Mathias (.359), Billy Fluharty (.354), Ty Lagoni (.313) and Michael Trommer (.304) are batting over .300.

Bucknell and Holy Cross entered the weekend tied for first in the PL standings. With Lafayette's sweep over Holy Cross over the weekend, the Bison now hold a two-game lead in the standings. Army (6-3) sits in second, Holy Cross (5-4) in third, Navy (3-6) and Lafayette (3-6) tied for fourth and Lehigh (2-7) in sixth.

Junior Ty Lagoni was named this week's Patriot League Player of the Week for the second time this season after another big week. Bryce Mitchell was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career after earning his first two wins in Orange and Blue as part of three excellent outings last week for the sophomore.

Lafayette's Will Dobil earned the Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor, hitting .600 (9-for-15) with five RBIs and five runs scored in the sweep over Holy Cross.

Last Time Out vs. La Salle/Lehigh

Bucknell is coming off of a 7-3 win over La Salle at Depew Field at Marren Park on Tuesday. Garrett Mathias' first-inning grand slam proved enough for the win, and Frankie Bilecki gave the Bison another strong four innings on the mound for the secodn straight week. Ty Lagoni and Lleyton Coupe both launched their second homers of the year to give the Bison some insurance for their seventh straight win.
Bucknell swept Lehigh in three games, including two comeback wins and a walk-off thriller in game three.
Bucknell trailed 1-0 in the sixth before the Bison tied it up in the bottom half. Everett Garber delivered a career-high seven innings on the mound as the sophomore kept Lehigh's offense in check. The Bison scored two in the eighth on RBIs by Lleyton Coupe and John Calabrese, and Hadley Maxwell escaped a big jam in the ninth to earn the save.
The Bison jumped out to a 6-1 lead in game two as Jake Schultz got the nod on the mound. He allowed one run over 3.2 innings before Mikey Myro threw 3.1 solid innings. Bryce Mitchell tossed a shut-down eighth before Maxwell earned his third save of week in the ninth.
Bucknell trailed 11-6 before a five-run sixth tied the game. Mitchell tossed the final four innings, allowing just a home run to hold an explosive Lehigh offense. Swenson walked off the game with an RBI single in the ninth.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is hitting .248 at the plate and pitchers have posted a 5.84 team ERA. Opponents are hitting .275 against the Bison and pitchers have a 5.18 ERA.
In conference play, the Bison lead the league with a .298 batting average and rank third with a 3.92 ERA.
Freshman DH and first baseman Garrett Mathias is hitting .338/.456/.535 to begin his collegiate career. He is 24-for-71 at the plate and is second on the team with 22 RBIs. Mathias has four home runs on the season, including a home run in his first collegiate at-bat and a grand slam in his last outing. He currently has a 24-game on-base streak and a 12-game hitting streak.
Mathias was 6-for-19 with three RBIs and three walks in the series against Lehigh. Mathias leads the team with 17 walks. Mathias, a left-handed hitter, is 5-for-14 (.357) against left-handed pitching. He is hitting .476 (10-for-21) with eight when there is two outs.
Left fielder Michael Trommer is hitting .320/.431/.577 for a 1.008 OPS and leads the team with 31 hits. He has five home runs, 11 RBIs and 22 runs scored along with 10 multi-hit games. The senior has 10 doubles and 15 extra-base hits. Trommer has drawn 14 walks and five hit-by-pitches.
Right fielder John Calabrese is hitting .314 in 22 games played. Calabrese has seven RBIs and eight of his 16 hits have been doubles. Calabrese has drawn eight walks and struck out just nine times in 51 at-bats. The sophomore went 4-for-7 with four walks and two RBIs in four games last week.
Outfielder Michael Chiaravallo is hitting .289 (11-for-38) in 21 games with 10 starts. Chiaravallo has been excellent in pinch-hit scenarios, going 3-for-8 at the plate. He's also been clutch for the Bison, hitting .444 (8-for-18) with runners in scoring position. He is also 6-for-16 (.375) with five RBIs when hitting with two outs.
Centerfielder Billy Fluharty is batting .281 at the plate and is second on the team with 27 hits. The leadoff hitter leads the team with 24 runs scored and scored six times in the series against Lehigh. The junior has three doubles, three triples and 11 RBIs for the Bison.
Ty Lagoni leads the team with 23 RBIs and is third on the team with 26 hits. Lagoni was 7-for-21 in five games last week with eight RBIs. He had six RBIs in the series against Lehigh, including a four-RBI game three. Both of his two hits drove in two runs to tie the game twice. He currently has a six-game hitting streak.
The Bison have hit 19 home runs. Ty Lagoni, Andrew Swenson, Ryan Facinelli, Garrison Bullock, Lleyton Coupe and Mathias have all homered. Trommer, Chiaravallo and Mathias all homered in their first at-bats of the season. Bullock homered in his second at-bat of the year.
Jonathan Adelmann has a 3.00 ERA in five starts for the Bison in his new role for the Bison. He's pitched 27.0 innings, going five innings or more in three starts. He's gone seven innings in each of the last two games, giving quality starts against both Saint Joseph's and Lafayette. He's struck out 25 batters compared to three walks the last two starts.
Everett Garber has a 5.08 ERA in 26.2 innings over six starts. Garber is 2-2 and is coming off of a career-high seven inning performance where he allowed just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in game one against Lehigh. He has 32 strikeouts compared to 17 walks this season.
Freshman Brady Hoar has a 5.40 ERA in seven starts. Hoar has four starts of at least five innings where he allowed one run or less. He's had three quality starts this season and has racked up 24 strikeouts compared to 19 walks.
Hadley Maxwell has a 2.00 ERA and is 6-for-6 in save opportunities this season for the Bison. He's allowed two earned runs on 10 hits with 12 strikeouts in 9.0 innings. Last week, he earned the save in three Bison wins, and he is now tied for fifth in program history in both single-season saves (6) and career saves (9).
Jake Schultz has been rock-solid in his return to the Bison this season. He has a 3.12 ERA in four appearances. He made his return to the mound in over a year against No. 15 North Carolina. He's allowed three earned runs on nine hits over 8.2 innings. He recently made a start in game two against Lehigh, where he allowed a run over 3.2 innings.
Bryce Mitchell jumped onto the scene last week with three relief appearances. He allowed three runs (one unearned) on two hits in eight innings with six strikeouts. He earned his first career win with 3.0 innings against The Mount before earning his second win in game three against Lehigh with 4.0 innings. The only two hits he allowed were home runs.
Mikey Myro has a 4.68 ERA in 25.0 innings over 10 appearances. He's allowed 13 earned runs on 24 hits with 16 strikeouts. Myro has seven appearances of two innings or more in relief.
Senior Ryan Facinelli was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team and was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection in 2025.
Bucknell posted an 18-27 overall record with a 10-15 mark in the Patriot League. The Bison finished fifth in the PL missed the playoffs after making the postseason the previous three seasons.
Holy Cross won the 2025 Patriot League Championship, ending Army's three-year run as champions.
Head coach Scott Heather is in his 14th season at the helm, and he is the third-longest tenured coach in program history. Heather's 256 career wins are second-most in team history, trailing only Hall-of-Famer Gene Depew (591).
Coach Heather is assisted by Jason Neitz (16th season), Brett Smith '17 (6th season) and Josh Kieffer (5th season).

Lafayette at a Glance/Series History

Lafayette is 7-17 with a 3-6 mark in the Patriot League. The Leopards opened the season 2-17 but have won five straight games.
The Leopards picked up their first win of the season in the series-opener against No. 13 NC State with an 11-6 victory. The Leopards recently beat Villanova 11-1 and Manhattan 6-5 after a three-game sweep over Holy Cross on the road.
The Leopards have had a tough schedule to begin the year. They opened their season with a four-game series at Miami before taking on William & Mary. They then took on nationally ranked NC State, taking one game from the three-game series.
Lafayette is batting .247 as a team and pitchers have posted a 9.25 team ERA. Opponents are hitting .324 and opposing pitchers have a 5.00 ERA.
Liam Ebbs is hitting .324/.395/.527 for a .922 OPS. Ebbs has 24 hits, 12 RBIs and three homers in nine games.
Matt Colella has a .321 average and leads the team with 20 RBIs. Colella and Teddy Cashman have each hit three home runs on the season.
Alex Barrist is hitting .264 and is second on the team with 24 hits. He leads the team with 15 walks.
Boden Fernsler is hitting .264/.341/.583 for a .924 OPS in 22 games. He leads the team with five home runs and has 15 RBIs
Brandon Doubek is 17-for-57 (.298) at the plate in 17 games. He has four home runs and 13 RBIs.
Lafayette leads the Patriot League by a wide margin with 29 home runs.
Tristan Helmick has a 6.75 ERA in six starts. He has tossed 33.1 innings, allowing 25 earned runs on 44 hits with 21 strikeouts.
Gregory Quintana has an 8.55 ERA with six appearances and four starts. He's tossed 20.0 innings and has 16 strikeouts and 19 walks.
Lafayette leads the all-time series with the Bison 127-94-1 dating back to 1895. Lafayette won the very first matchup with a 9-0 victory.
Bucknell went 2-3 against the Leopards last season. Lafayette won both games of a doubleheader at Depew Field midway through the season before the met up in the final series of the year. The Bison won the first two games in Easton to give them a shot at the postseason, but Lafayette took the final game to knock out the Bison.
Bucknell swept Lafayette at Depew Field at Marren Park to open up Patriot League play. The Bison won 8-5, 9-8 and 8-0.
Ty Lagoni hit 7-for-12 with five RBI in the series. John Calabrese went 4-for-9 with three RBIs and four doubles. Andrew Swenson was 4-for-8 with four RBIs. Michael Trommer was 6-for-15 with an RBI. Garrett Mathias was 4-for-10 with two RBIs

Looking Ahead

Bucknell is back at Depew Field for a five-game homestand. Bucknell hosts Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday before Holy Cross comes to Lewisburg for a four-game series beginning on Friday.