Baseball to Host Pivotal Four-Game Series Against Holy Cross

Friday, April 10

Lewisburg, Pa.

3:30 p.m.

Bucknell University

Holy Cross

Photo by: Alisa Mitchell

Baseball to Host Pivotal Four-Game Series Against Holy Cross

4/9/2026 11:03:00 AM | Baseball

Holy Cross (14-16, 8-4 PL) at Bucknell (18-12, 11-1 PL)
When: Friday, 3:30 p.m. | Saturday 12 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, 1 p.m.
Where: Depew Field at Marren Park | Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Stats: BucknellBison.com

The Bucknell baseball team welcomes Holy Cross to town for a pivotal four-game series in the Patriot League. The Bison lead the second-place Crusaders in the league by three-games.

The Bison are coming off of a 14-2 non-conference loss to Mount Saint Mary's and the Crusaders scored four runs in the final two innings to steal a 6-5 win away from Stonehill. Both teams have been hot in league play as Bucknell swept Lafayette and Holy Cross swept third-place Army last weekend.

In the Patriot League, the Bison are 11-1, sweeping Lafayette twice and Lehigh once. Bucknell's only league loss came on the road to Navy. The Bison have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Bucknell (11-1) holds a three-game lead in the Patriot League standings over Holy Cross (8-4). The Crusaders kept pace with a three-game sweep over third-place Army (6-6) last weekend. Navy (5-7) sits in fourth followed by Lafayette (3-9) and Lehigh (3-9).

Bucknell's start in the Patriot League is its best start to Patriot League in program history. The Bison began the season 1-7, but have gone 17-5 and are six games over .500.

Over the last 16 games, Bucknell is batting .279 as a team and are scoring 6.9 runs per game. The Bison are outscored opponents 110-80 over that span and pitchers have a 3.98 ERA. The Bison have hit 50 extra-base hits and 10 home runs.

Over those 15 games, John Calabrese (.361), Garrett Mathias (.314), Billy Fluharty (.328) and Michael Trommer (.333) are batting over .300.

Holy Cross's Owen Stelzer was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week after going 2-for-6 with five RBIs and a home run in the sweep over Army. Bucknell's Lleyton Coupe and Everett Garber earned honorable mentions.

Last Time Out at Lafayette/Mount Saint Mary's

Bucknell fell 14-2 as The Mount ended the 10-game winning streak for the Bison. The Mount used a four-run third and a five-run fourth to jump to a 12-0 lead. Ryan Facinelli hit his third homer and Garrett Mathias extended his on-base streak to 28 games.
Bucknell is coming off of a three-game sweep against Lafayette in Easton. The Bison won both games of a doubleheader on Saturday before winning the series finale on Monday.
Bucknell won 3-1 in seven innings in game one behind Everett Garber's complete-game performance on the mound. Garber threw 6.2 one-hit innings before a home run with two outs in the seventh. Bucknell broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on an error before getting an insurance run in the sixth.
Bucknell won a thrilling game two on Ryan Facinelli's two-run single in the 10th inning. Bucknell tied the game up two different times early on and Lafayette later tied the game 8-8 in the seventh. Liam Jones pitched two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to shut the door and earn his second win of the season. Hadley Maxwell then earned his seventh save of the year.
Bucknell then won game three on Monday 13-7. The Bison and Leopards traded three-run innings in the second before the Bison opened up an 8-3 lead in the sixth behind homers from Garrett Mathias and Michael Trommer. The Leopards cut the lead to 8-5, but the Bison pulled away with added insurance in the eighth and ninth.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell is hitting .248 at the plate and pitchers have posted a 5.83 team ERA. Opponents are hitting .269 against the Bison and pitchers have a 5.14 ERA.
In conference play, the Bison are second in the league behind Holy Cross with a .286 batting average and rank second to Navy with a 3.98 ERA.
Left fielder Michael Trommer is hitting .333/.434/.588 for a 1.022 OPS and leads the team with 38 hits. He has six home runs, 16 RBIs and 26 runs scored along with 12 multi-hit games. The senior has 11 doubles and 17 extra-base hits. Trommer has drawn 16 walks and five hit-by-pitches.
Freshman DH and first baseman Garrett Mathias is hitting .313/.439/.518 for a .957 OPS to begin his collegiate career. He is 26-for-83 at the plate and leads the team with 26 RBIs. Mathias has five home runs on the season, including a home run in his first collegiate at-bat. He currently has a 27-game on-base streak.
Mathias, a left-handed hitter, is 5-for-15 (.333) against left-handed pitching. He is hitting .435 (10-for-23) with eight RBIs when there are two outs.
Right fielder John Calabrese is hitting .310 in 26 games with 18 starts. Calabrese has nine RBIs and eight of his 18 hits have been doubles. Calabrese has drawn 11 walks and struck out just nine times in 58 at-bats.
Outfielder Michael Chiaravallo is hitting .318 (14-for-44) with 10 RBIs in 24 games with 10 starts. Chiaravallo has been excellent in pinch-hit scenarios, going 4-for-11 at the plate. He's also been clutch for the Bison, hitting .400 (8-for-20) with runners in scoring position. He is also 6-for-17 (.353) with five RBIs when hitting with two outs.
Centerfielder Billy Fluharty is batting .277 at the plate and is second on the team with 31 hits. The leadoff hitter leads the team with 26 runs scored. The junior has four doubles, three triples and 11 RBIs for the Bison.
Zach Selfon is hitting .255 with 13 RBIs and 28 hits. Ty Lagoni has 27 hits and is second on the team with 23 RBIs. Lagoni has been named the Patriot League Player of the Week twice this season.
The Bison have hit 20 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 4.43 ERA in 40.2 innings over eight starts. Garber is 3-2 and is coming off of his first complete-game effort with one run on three hits over seven innings in game one against Lafayette. He has allowed just two runs on eight hits with 15 strikeouts in 14.0 innings over his last two starts. He has 40 strikeouts and 20 walks this season.
Freshman Brady Hoar has a 5.40 ERA in eight starts and is 4-2 on the season. 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 27 strikeouts compared to 20 walks. Hoar has been named a Patriot League Rookie of the Week twice and Pitcher of the Week once.
Hadley Maxwell has a 2.08 ERA and is 7-for-7 in save opportunities this season for the Bison. He's allowed three earned runs on 14 hits with 18 strikeouts in 13.0 innings. He is now tied for fourth in program history in single-season saves (7) and fifth in career saves (10).
Mikey Myro has a 4.50 ERA in 30.0 innings over 11 appearances. He's allowed 15 earned runs on 27 hits with 23 strikeouts. Myro has eight appearances of two innings or more in relief and tossed five big innings in relief in Bucknell's 10-8 win in game two over Lafayette.
Jake Schultz has 5.23 ERA in five appearances with three starts. He made his return to the mound in over a year against No. 15 North Carolina. He's allowed six earned runs on 13 hits over 10.1 innings.
Bryce Mitchell jumped onto the scene two weeks ago with three relief appearances. He allowed three runs (one unearned) on two hits in eight innings with six strikeouts to earn the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honor. 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.
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 last season. 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 259 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).

Holy Cross at a Glance/Series History

Holy Cross is 14-16 with an 8-4 mark in the Patriot League this season.
Holy Cross got off to a hot 5-1 start in the Patriot League before a three-game sweep dropped the Crusaders to 5-4. They got back on track with a big three-game sweep over Army, outscoring the Black Knights 37-13 in the series. Holy Cross is 5-1 against Army this season.
The Crusaders posted a 31-27 record with a 17-8 mark in the conference. The Crusaders defeated Lehigh in three games in the semifinals before defeating Army in two games to win its first Patriot League title since 2017. They then fell to No. 1 North Carolina 4-0 and Nebraska 4-1 in the NCAA Regional.
Holy Cross is hitting .263 as a team and pitchers have a 7.30 team ERA. Opponents are hitting .279 and opposing pitchers have a 6.07 ERA.
Gianni Royer is hitting .324/.374/.533 in 26 games. He leads the team with 34 hits and has 17 RBIs. He has four home runs, 13 extra-base hits and 10 multi-hit games.
Ryan Grundy is hitting .321/.438/.536 for a team-high .974 OPS in 23 games. He has 19 RBIs including two home runs and eight doubles.
Braden Connors is batting .320/.446/.464 and is second on the team with 31 hits and 20 RBIs. He has drawn 15 walks and eight hit-by-pitches.
CJ Egrie is batting .309 in 23 games and is 30-for-30 in stolen base attempts this season. He's drawn 22 walks and four hit-by-pitches for a .477 on-base percentage. He has 25 hits, 28 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
Simon Landry is hitting .286 with 22 hits, 19 runs scored and 13 RBIs. Alex Sandell is hitting .282 with 29 hits, 27 runs scored and 16 RBIs.
Van Coughlin is batting .266 in 22 games and leads the Crusaders with 25 RBIs. He is tied for the team lead with four home runs.
The Crusaders have hit 24 home runs on the season.
Jaden Wywoda has a 4.03 and is 4-2 in eight starts.He's allowed 38 hits and 20 runs in 44.2 innings and has 34 strikeouts compared to just 12 walks. Opponents are hitting just .224 off of Wywoda.
Henry Harding has a 4.00 ERA in nine relief appearances. He's allowed eight earned runs on 20 hits over 18.0 innings with 15 strikeouts and 14 walks.
Nick Harnisch has a 4.50 ERA in eight relief appearances over 14.0 innings.
Jake Lenahan has a 5.61 ERA over 25.2 innings in eight relief appearances. He has 32 strikeouts and 15 walks.
Derek Volz has a 7.82 ERA in eight starts and Pedro Leon has a 9.23 ERA in eight appearances with seven starts.
Holy Cross leads the all-time series 75-69 dating back to 1991 when Bucknell won the first matchup 11-1.
Bucknell went 3-2 against the Crusaders last season. The Bison swept a doubleheader on the road before the Crusaders took two games of a three-game series at Depew Field.

Looking Ahead

Bucknell is back on the road for six consecutive games, beginning with a midweek contest at Villanova on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Bucknell continues Patriot League action with a four-game road series at Army beginning on Friday, April 17 at 3:35 p.m.