April 10, 2008

Box Score: Bucknell 2, Susquehanna 0

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) and Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) combined on a three-hit shutout as the Bucknell softball team won for the sixth time in seven outings, defeating Susquehanna 2-0 in a single game Thursday afternoon at West Fields. Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) paced the Bison offense with her third two-hit game of the season.

With the win, Bucknell improved to 14-21 this season, placing it one win shy of last year's total. Additionally, the Bison posted their fifth shutout of the season, their most since 2003 when they also totaled five. The Division III Crusaders fell to 9-12 with the loss.

It was a pitcher's duel throughout as Bucknell managed just six hits in the contest. The fifth inning, when the Bison plated their two runs to break up Cara Swerdlow's (4-4) shutout, was the only time they managed more than one hit in an inning.

Despite not having her best stuff, Wiest started and allowed just two hits in 3.0 innings of work. Both of those hits came in the third inning when Danielle McCann and Laurie Blaszka had back-to-back two-out singles up the middle. The next inning McDonald, who improved to 6-9, relieved her with the score still knotted at 0-0 and limited Susquehanna to one hit over the next four innings. She recorded six strikeouts. McDonald and Wiest combined for 10 strikeouts with seven of them coming against the bottom third of the Crusaders' lineup.

Bucknell, which had at least one runner on base in five of six innings, didn't threaten to score until the fifth when Beans led off with a double that skipped under the glove of McCann at second base. The ball rolled into the right-center field gap. Beans later scored from third base on a one-out ground out by Mary Pavlovich (Johnstown, Pa./Richland).

Ashley Carlson (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) tallied the second run of the game for the Bison later that inning. She bunted for a base hit with Beans on third and later stole second. She advanced to third on Pavlovich's ground out and then scored on an error by McCann off the bat of Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield).

Carlson, Fry, Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell), Alison Ford (Suison, Calif./Fairfield) and Beans accounted for Bucknell's six hits. Curatola extended her hitting streak to eight games, while Fry, who saw her average hold steady at a team-best .341, has now hit in four consecutive contests.

The Bison will return to Patriot League play this weekend when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa., for a four-game series with first-place Lehigh. Bucknell, which stands second in the league standings, trails the Mountain Hawks by just one game.