April 2, 2008

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Bucknell baseball team out-hit Penn State on Wednesday evening, but unearned runs proved costly as the Bison fell to the Nittany Lions by an 8-3 margin on Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Orange and Blue (13-11-2) managed 12 hits in the contest, marking the 20th time this season the team has tallied 10 or more hits, while Penn State made the most of its eight hits to improve to 8-14 on the year.

The Lions went in front, 1-0, in the first. Wes Borden led off with a walk and later scored while Joe Blackburn was caught in a run down and picked off at first.

Penn State added another five in the bottom of the third as Brian Ernst opened the inning with a double and crossed the plate on a bases loaded walk to Rick Marlin. Rob Yodice scored on a wild pitch and two more came in on a double to right by Ryan Boonie, while Lou Picconi capped off the inning with an RBI single up the middle.

In the top of the seventh, the Bison took one of the runs back with two out. Junior Dane Grandizio (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on a single by senior Mark Angelo (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown), went to third on a walk to senior Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) and scored on a bases loaded walk to sophomore John Avanzino (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset). However, Lions' reliever Paul Cianciolo induced an inning-ending groundout off the bat of sophomore Andrew Brouse (Kreamer, Pa./Midd-West), keeping Bucknell at bay.

The Orange and Blue crept closer with two more in the eighth to cut the deficit to three. Junior Zachary Brown (Stroudsburg, Pa./Notre Dame) led off with a single through the left side and sophomore Ben Yoder (Belleville, Pa./Indian Valley) brought him in with a sacrifice fly. Sophomore Ben Allen (Port Royal, Pa./Juniata) reached on a fielder's choice and Angelo plated him with a single up the middle. A successfully executed double steal by Grandizio and Angelo gave the Bison runners on second and third with two out, but Cianciolo escaped the jam by striking out Buursma and went on to earn the save (1).

Penn State extended its lead back out to five with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Landon Nakata walked and scored on a passed ball with two away as Ernst reached first on the play after striking out. Blackburn singled in Ernst to bring the score to 8-3 before senior David Solan (Newark, Del./Newark) fanned Cory Wine for his fourth strikeout in the inning.

Freshman Doug Shribman (Marblehead, Mass./Belmont Hill School) started for the Bison and took the loss (1-0), allowing one unearned run with no hits, four walks and one strikeout in two innings of work. Calvin Grumley picked up the win (1-0) for the Lions, tossing three scoreless innings and allowing four hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Yoder, Angelo and Buursma all went 2-for-4 in the contest to lead Bucknell offensively, while Grandizio was 2-for-5 at the plate. Ernst was the lone Penn State player to tally multiple hits, finishing 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.

The Bison will be back in action this Saturday, Apr. 5, when the squad travels to Easton, Pa., for the first doubleheader in a four-game Patriot League series at Lafayette, beginning at noon.