Bison Softball Continues Southern Swing to Longwood Tournament

Bucknell to Play St. John's, Quinnipiac, Longwood in Virginia

Elyse Colmenero and the Bison will travel to Farmville, Va., this weekend.

Feb. 20, 2009

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell softball team will travel south for the second time this season to play in the Longwood Tournament in Farmville, Va., this weekend. The Bison (3-3) will face off against St. John's and Quinnipiac on Saturday, Feb. 21, and the host-team Longwood on Sunday, Feb. 22. A final seeded game will be also be played on Sunday at either 2 or 4 p.m.

Heather Rakosik will coach in the 200th game as a Bison against Longwood on Sunday. In her fifth season in the Orange and Blue, the head coach has a record of 72-124-1.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
- St. John's and Bucknell will play on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Red Storm enters the tournament with a 3-2 record having defeated Temple, Florida International and Georgetown last weekend. The team's two losses came to Florida Gulf Coast in five innings and Michigan State. First/third baseman Roxy Struble leads the team with a .500 batting average and .831 slugging percentage through five games. Struble was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for her play at the Blue and Gold Felsburg Memorial FIU Tournament last weekend.

- Quinnipiac and Bucknell will play on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Longwood Tournament will be the Bobcats' first competition of the spring. Quinnipiac finished the 2008 season with a 20-36 record. Christine Bourdeau hit a team-leading .323 while starting all 56 games for the Bobcats last year. The junior returns in 2009 as a co-captain.

- Longwood and Bucknell will play on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Lancers are 1-3 entering their home tournament with their lone win coming against Elon last weekend and trio of losses coming to Winthrop, Georgia and Cleveland State. Courtney Long is hitting .643 in three games to lead the team, while Camille Ketsdever has posted a .429 average and three RBI in four games.

LAST TIME OUT
- Bucknell opened its 2009 schedule with a pair of contests against Charleston Southern University and Campbell at the Camel Stampede last weekend. The Bison dropped both contests, 9-1 to CSU and 4-3 to Campbell. Despite falling 5-2 to Ohio on day two of the tournament, they bounced back for 2-1 victory over Saint Joseph's in the final game.

- Alyssa Okita (Davis, Calif./Davis) was named to the Camel Stampede All-Tournament Team following competition. The junior hit .500 in 10 at bats and drew two walks in four games. She also tallied one run and one RBI.

- Pitcher Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) earned the win against Saint Joseph's. The senior gave up just three hits and no earned runs in seven innings of work.

- The Orange and Blue concluded the weekend with a set of wins against North Carolina Central on Sunday. Bucknell scored six runs in the first inning of game one on its way to the 14-3 win. The team continued its first-inning success in game two, scoring all nine of their runs in the opening set to take it to a 9-0 win.

- Alison Ford (Suison, Calif./Fairfield) and Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) each hit homeruns in the first game. Ford's was a grand slam, while Snyder's earned her three RBI, bringing her to five RBI on the day.

- Freshman pitcher Kaytlin Senatore (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) recorded the first win of her career in game one, and McDonald claimed her second victory of the weekend.

UP NEXT
Bucknell will continue with its early-season tournament schedule Saturday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1 as it travels to the Elon Tournament in Elon, N.C. The Bison will face Kent State at 11 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the host school at 3:30 p.m. The same teams will meet again on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Live stats for the games against Elon will be available at ElonPheonix.com.

MULTIMEDIA

Photo Galleries

Facilities Gallery

Video Player

Media Guide

History

Camps

Prospective Student-Athletes

Facilities