March 16, 2008

Bucknell vs. San Diego Game 1 Box Score (L, 5-3)
Bucknell vs. San Diego Game 2 Box Score (L, 7-0)

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Freshman Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) was 5-for-7 and Bucknell pounded out 19 hits in the doubleheader, but it wrapped up its Spring Break trip to California with a pair of losses to the University of San Diego on Sunday. The Bison lost the first game to the Toreros by a 5-3 score despite 12 hits and followed with a 7-0 loss in the nightcap.

Fry was the story of the day for the Bison, who finished 0-7 on their trip to California. One of four Bucknell (3-15) players with at least two hits in the opener, she was a career-high 3-for-4 with one run and one run batted in. She followed that with a 2-for-3 performance in the nightcap. She had hits in five consecutive at bats over the two games.

In game one, the Bison managed just one hit in the first three innings as San Diego opened up a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first and one more in the second. Then the Bucknell bats got hot, pounding 11 hits over the final four innings against Toreros' starter Kristen Gensler (3-2). However, the Bison could muster no more than one run in any inning. San Diego (12-19) tacked on two more runs in the fourth on a two-out single by Carey Casciola.

Cassie Lloyd (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg), who was 2-for-4 in the game, drove in Fry for Bucknell's first run in the fourth. Fry drove in Sam Rollandi (San Carlos, Calif./Notre Dame Belmont) with a two-out single in the fifth. Sherry Finkel's single in the sixth, one of four Bison hits in the inning, plated Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) to narrow Bucknell's deficit to 5-3.

Fry, Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell), who extended her hitting streak to five games before going 0-for-3 in the nightcap, and Lloyd all singled in the seventh, but Gensler recorded the third out leaving the bases loaded and preserving the San Diego victory.

Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) pitched the complete game five-hitter for the Bison. She fell to 2-8 on the season despite yielding just three earned runs and one walk along with those five hits. She also totaled four strikeouts. Bucknell's defense committed three errors behind Wiest.

In the nightcap, the Bison recorded seven more hits, but could not advance a runner past second base against Jennifer Ellenbeck (4-10). Fry and Finkel each recorded two hits. Finkel was 3-for-6 in the doubleheader.

Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) and Heather Haskin (Noblesville, Ind./Thomas Scecina) split time in the circle for the Bison. McDonald pitched the first 3.2 innings and gave up seven hits, four runs and three walks while striking out one. Haskin relieved her two outs into the three-run fourth and yielded five hits and three runs, two of which were earned, in her 2.1 innings. McDonald suffered the loss, dropping her to 1-5 this season.

The score was 1-0 heading into the fourth frame, but the first three Toreros reach base with Taryn Keenan hitting a two-run triple to center. Danielle Duhart later added an RBI single.

San Diego added three more runs in the sixth, although two were unearned. Back-to-back one-out RBI singles by Celeste Soto and Lindsey Fleet rounded out the scoring. Fleet was 3-for-4 with one run and one run batted in in the contest. Casciola's 5-for-6 performance in the twinbill led the Toreros. She added two runs and two runs batted in.

Ellenbeck recorded four strikeouts as she recorded her third shutout of the season.

After playing its first 18 games away from home, Bucknell is scheduled to open its home slate Wednesday with a doubleheader against regional foe Bloomsburg. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.