March 15, 2008

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Bucknell softball team opened up its final day of competition at the Loyola Marymount Tournament with a 7-0 loss to Illinois-Chicago Saturday. The Bison, who have lost their first four games on their Spring Break trip to California, will play the host Lions at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.

Bucknell (3-12) lost to Illinois-Chicago by a narrow 3-2 score on Friday, but the Flames touched the Bison for 11 hits and seven runs on Saturday. The Bison recorded just one hit in the contest, a one-out double in the fourth by Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell), who extended her hitting streak to a season-long three games. She is now hitting a team-best .268 this year.

Illinois-Chicago got on the board early with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first off Bison starter Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area). An RBI single by Nicole Robinson in the third inning put the Flames up 3-0.

Illinois-Chicago (7-16) batted around in the fifth inning and plated four more runs, two of which were unearned. Five of the first six hitters in the inning reached on four singles and an error, forcing Bison head coach Heather Rakosik to turn to her bullpen. Heather Haskin (Noblesville, Ind./Thomas Scecina) relieved McDonald and walked the first hitter she faced, but retired the next two on groundouts to end the inning.

Haskin walked the leadoff batter in the sixth inning, but a double play helped her work out of the inning unscathed. She yielded one hit and two walks in her 1.2 innings of work and her ERA fell from 5.04 to 4.20. McDonald (1-4) gave up 10 hits, seven runs, three earned runs and struck out two in her 4.1 innings.

Sarah Clynes (4-9) fired the one-hitter for Illinois-Chicago. She allowed just three baserunners in the contest as Alison Ford (Suison, Calif./Fairfield) and Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) each drew a walk. Clynes finished with seven strikeouts as she recorded her second shutout of the season.

Bucknell, which will wrap up its Spring Break trip with a doubleheader at San Diego on Sunday, will complete play at the Loyola Marymount Tournament at 6:30 p.m. (Eastern) against the host Lions. Loyola Marymount one-hit the Bison in a 3-0 win on Thursday.