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Bucknell Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader from Holy Cross, 2-1 & 15-3
April 12, 2009
WORCESTER, Mass. - The start of Bucknell's four-game baseball series at Holy Cross was delayed one day, but it didn't seem to bother the Bison, who swept a doubleheader from the Crusaders on Sunday at Fitton Field. Bucknell claimed game one by a 2-1 score behind a complete game four-hitter from Trey Frahler (Northfield, Ill./New Trier). In the nightcap, the Bison pounded out 14 hits and received three runs batted in from both Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School) and B.J. LaRosa (Jacksonville, Fla./Episcopal) as they won by a 15-3 margin. Bucknell (14-18, 6-4 Patriot League) won for the third time in its last four games after snapping a four-game losing streak. With Army's sweep of Navy on Sunday, the Bison are now in first place in the Patriot League standings, one-half game ahead of Lafayette, which is 6-5. Holy Cross is now 12-19 overall and 4-4 in PL play. Bucknell received solid pitching performances in both ends of the doubleheader and need to use just three pitchers in the two games. Frahler (3-4), who registered his second complete game in three Patriot League outings, permitted just four hits, one run, one walk and struck out two. The Crusaders had just two baserunners reach as far as third base, and both of those came in the fifth inning when they scored their lone run.
Game two starter Chris Yamaguchi (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South), who improved to 5-1, was not quite as strong as Frahler, but just as effective. He scattered 10 hits in 6.1 innings of work and Holy Cross touched him for just two runs, both scoring on a two-out single by Billy Cupelo in the sixth. Yamaguchi and Frahler now both have team-best ERAs of 3.83.
Ryan Ebner (Reading, Pa./Hill School) came on in relief of Yamaguchi one out into the seventh with the Bison leading 12-2 and hurled the final 2.2 innings. The freshman yielded just two hits and one run over that span and he retired the side in order in the eighth. He also induced the first batter he faced to hit into a double play, getting out of a first and second with no outs situation. Playing in his home state, Shribman was solid in both ends of the twinbill as he had two hits in each game. Despite claiming two of Bucknell's seven hits in game one, he did not have a part in either run. The Bison took an early lead in game one thanks to speed on the basepaths. With Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West), who failed to knock in a run on Sunday despite entering the day as the Patriot League's top run producer, on first and leadoff hitter Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) on third, Bucknell successfully pulled of a two-out double steal. Bucknell scored a much-needed insurance run that proved to be the winning run in the fifth. Bret Sokirka (Wyoming, Pa./Wyoming Area) led off the inning reaching on an error and scored three hitters later on a two-out single by Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley). In game two, the Bison bats really got going as they posted double figures in runs for the fifth time in their last eight victories. Allen, Brouse, Shribman and LaRosa each posted two hits, while Drew Constable (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) had three singles in consecutive innings to lead the offense. Eight of Bucknell's nine starters registered at least one hit. Again, the Bison went up early as they plated two runs in the top of the first. Allen and Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) reached on a hit by pitch and an error, respectively, and both later scored on a two-out single to left-center by Shribman. Holy Cross starter Matt Shapiro (1-4) then settled down and retired 10 straight hitters. The Bison then got hot in the later innings, scoring at least three runs in four of the final innings. Grandizio had the big hit in the fifth with a two-out, two-run single. Shapiro was knocked from the game in the sixth when LaRosa and Allen each had two-run doubles with a single by Sokirka sandwiched in between. Allen's double was the last batter for Shapiro, who gave way to relievers Matt Croglio and Derek Klinka over the final few frames. Bucknell added three more runs in the seventh on an error and a two-run single by Constable. It rounded out the scoring in the ninth with three more runs. Shribman, LaRosa and backup second baseman Hunter George (Ross, Calif./The Branson School) each recorded RBIs in the inning. Allen had just two hits in game two, but was on base five of the six times he stepped to the plate as he registered a single, a double, was hit by a pitch, walked and reached on an error. With one hit in game one and two more in game two, Brouse now owns a team-best eight-game hitting streak. Holy Cross was plagued by seven errors in the doubleheader, including four in game two. Bucknell registered just three unearned runs, two of which came in game two. Since Saturday's games were rained out, Bucknell and Holy Cross will wrap up their four-game weekend series Monday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. at Fitton Field. |
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