March 15, 2008

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Just two days after being one-hit by Loyola Marymount and starting pitcher Tiffany Pagano, Bucknell recorded five hits and scored one run against her, but lost by a 3-1 score Saturday to wrap up play at the Loyola Marymount Tournament. The Bison were 0-5 at the three-day event that featured stiff competition.

Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) singled home Bucknell's lone run in the third inning, extending her hitting streak to a season-high four games. Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) was 2-for-2 at the plate and also drew a pair of walks as she reached base in all four of her plate appearances. It was the first two-hit game of the season for the freshman.

Loyola Marymount (18-9) managed just four hits against Bucknell starter Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley), but three of those came in the three-run third inning. Kirsten Slouber had a one-out double to left-center to score the Lions' first run and then Amy Charpentier blasted a two-run, go-ahead home run to left. That was all the scoring Loyola Marymount would need as it improved to 3-0 in its own tournament.

Wiest, who pitched her eighth complete game of the season, held Loyola Marymount to just those three runs as she allowed just four hits and one walk in 6.0 innings of work. She also had a pair of strikeouts, but fell to a hard-luck 2-7 this year. She has a career-best 2.02 ERA and has yielded just over one hit per inning this season.

The Bison had much better success Saturday against Pagano (9-4) than they did in their first meeting two days earlier. They drew six walks and tallied the five hits. At least two Bucknell (3-13) players reached base in five of the seven innings and Pagano never retired the side in order.

The Bison brought the go-ahead run to the plate with one out in the top of the seventh inning, but could not push across a run. Fry and Alison Ford (Suison, Calif./Fairfield) had back-to-back one-out singles, bringing Curatola to the plate representing the go-ahead run. She reached on a fielder's choice and then Pagano retired Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) to end the game with the tying runs on first and third.

Bucknell will wrap up its seven-game Spring Break trip to California Sunday with a doubleheader at San Diego. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. Eastern.