April 25, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell softball team will close out the regular season this weekend with a four-game home series against Holy Cross. The Bison enter the weekend needing just one win to clinch their first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2005.

Bucknell and Holy Cross will square off in doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday. First pitch Saturday has been moved to 10 a.m. while Sunday's is slated for 12 p.m. Approximately 15 minutes prior to Saturday's twinbill (9:45 a.m.), the Bison senior class of Erin Curatola, Heather Haskin and Christie Wiest will be honored as part of Senior Day festivities.

A live audio broadcast will be available of Sunday's doubleheader through SportsJuice.com if the Bison men's lacrosse team does not advance to Sunday's Patriot League Championship Game. (LIVE AUDIO LINK) 

Bucknell Softball Notebook (18-27, 9-7 PL)
Bucknell Notes
• Bucknell is 18-27 this year, marking its most victories since posting 19 in 2001.

• Bucknell enters its final weekend of the regular season with a 9-7 Patriot League record, its most conference wins since going 12-8 in 1999. That was also the last time the Bison finished above .500 in league play.

• With at least one win this weekend, Bucknell will clinch a berth in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2005. The Bison can still make the tournament even if they don't win a game, but would have to wait for the outcome of next week's Colgate-Holy Cross series that was postponed last month.

• Bucknell enters the weekend with a 9-6 home record. The last time the Bison won more games at home was 2006 when they went 10-8 on their home surface. Since joining the Patriot League in 1991, the most home wins Bucknell has had is 13, with that coming in 1991.

• Senior pitcher Christie Wiest broke a pair of Bucknell career records this past weekend that were held by Sharon Nichols for the better part of two decades. She broke the career strikeout and innings pitched standards and now sits on top of those lists with 343 strikeouts and 531.2 innings pitched.

• Freshman Elyse Colmenero leads the Patriot League in hitting during league games with a stellar .490 batting average. Colmenero is hitting .324 overall, good for second on the team.

• Senior Erin Curatola has piled up 31 RBIs this year, which places her tied for sixth on the Bison single-season list. She is just four RBIs shy of the program record. In her career she now has 69 RBIs, which is one short of 10th place on the Bucknell career ledger.

• Freshman Lauren Fry leads the Bison in hitting this season with a .344 batting average. She also has two home runs and 25 RBIs, the third-most by a freshman in Bucknell history.

• Bucknell has scored 210 runs this season, the second-most in program history. Only the 1991 squad that registered 217 runs had more.

• Five of Bucknell's top six hitters, including the top three, are freshmen or sophomores. Fry (.344), Colmenero (.324) and sophomore Mary Pavlovich (.308) are the top three hitters on the squad.

• Pavlovich and Colmenero enter the weekend with the two longest active hitting streaks for Bucknell. Pavlovich has hit in a season-high five consecutive games, while Colmenero, who has at least one hit in 19 of the last 21 games, has hit in five straight.

• Wiest and junior pitcher Katie McDonald have combined to win 18 games this year, the most by a pair of Bison pitchers since Lauren Potente and Stacey Waite won a combined 18 games.

Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
• Bucknell is 36-23 all-time against Holy Cross and has won 14 of its last 16 meetings with the Crusaders. The Bison have not lost twice in the same season to the Crusaders since 2003.

• Holy Cross enters the final weekend of Patriot League regular-season play with an 8-25 overall record and it is 3-9 in conference games. The Crusaders, who still have to play a four-game series at Colgate next week, enter the weekend having gone 5-3 over its last eight games. Two of those wins came against nine-time Patriot League champion Lehigh.

• Holy Cross has a .265 team batting average and an ERA of 4.33.

2008 Bucknell Weekly Honors
• Patriot League Player of the Week:
- Alison Ford (3/24), Mary Pavlovich (4/7)
• Patriot League Rookie of the Week:
- Lauren Fry (3/17, 3/31, 4/7)
• ECAC Player of the Week: - Alison Ford (3/26)

Up Next
• With at least one win this weekend Bucknell will clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. The tournament will be held May 8-10 at the home field of the highest seed. It is likely either Lafayette or Lehigh will serve as the host institution.

Bucknell's Schedule this Weekend
Saturday, April 26
Holy Cross at Bucknell (DH), 10 a.m.
* Live Audio available through SportsJuice.com if Bucknell men's lacrosse team is not playing in Patriot League Championship Game

Sunday, April 27
Holy Cross at Bucknell (DH), 12 p.m.