April 6, 2008
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - A combination of timely hitting and solid pitching from two freshman starters translated into two wins for the Lafayette baseball team against Bucknell on Sunday afternoon. With the two wins, the Leopards took three of four from the visiting Bison to win their first league series of the season.
A Tom Hayes grand slam helped give Lafayette (15-10, 4-4) an 8-5 win over Bucknell in the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader. Freshman pitcher Zach Fritz pitched into the seventh and kept the Bison off the scoreboard until the final two innings. Lafayette went on to win 2-1 in the second game of the afternoon behind seven strong innings from another rookie, Corey Shea, who earned his first collegiate victory.
Bucknell's Jason Buursma collected the afternoon's first hit with a leadoff single to right field in the second inning. Two bunt singles put runners on second and third but Fritz got Ed Rubbo to strike out swinging and end the inning.
Bucknell (14-14-2, 4-4) starter Andrew Clarke issued three walks in the bottom of the second to load the bases with one out for Hayes. The senior co-captain took Clarke's third pitch of the at bat and deposited it over the left field fence for his first home run of the season and a 4-0 Lafayette lead. The Leopards tacked on another run in the third to make it 5-0 after Daniel Bierce drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on Matt Hall's RBI single to right field.
Three Bucknell errors to leadoff the fifth inning led to another two runs as Chris Luick's RBI double down the right field scored centerfielder Rob Froio for a 6-0 Leopard lead. Hall followed with a single through the right side to score Luick for Lafayette's seventh run of the game.
Fritz gave up his first runs of the ballgame in the sixth when he surrendered an opposite field two-run home run to Mark Angelo, making it an 8-2 ballgame. Fritz gave up another two-run home run in the ninth before giving way to reliever Steve Roberts. Roberts struck out Ben Yoder swinging for the second out but Dane Grandizio hit a RBI single up the middle for the inning's third run. Roberts then got Angelo to ground out to first to end the game and preserve the 8-5 Lafayette victory.
Froio led off the second game with a single to right field and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He came around to score on Luick's sac fly for the quick 1-0 Lafayette lead. In the bottom of the third, Froio came through with a run-scoring single with one out to up Lafayette's lead to 2-0.
Shea got into some trouble in the fifth when he gave up a leadoff single and a one-out walk but he got Grandizio to ground into a double play to get out of the inning with Lafayette's lead still intact. The Leopards would go on to record three double plays in the game.
Bucknell got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh when a wild pitch scored Andrew Brouse, who had reached base on an error by Bierce. Shea prevented any further runs from scoring as Lafayette headed into the bottom of the seventh with the 2-1 edge.
Roberts relieved Shea in the top of the eighth inning, making his second appearance of the afternoon. Roberts struck out two batters in the inning to keep it a 2-1 ballgame. Hayes made a great play from deep in the hole for the first out in the ninth inning and Roberts proceeded to retire Bucknell in order, including a swinging strikeout of Shawn Hirsch to end the game and earn his first save of the season.
The Leopards are back in action on Tuesday when they face Lehigh in the championship game of the Liberty Bell Classic. Game time is 8 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park, the home of Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies.
Postgame Notes:
- For the second time this series, Lafayette handed a Bucknell starting pitcher his first loss of the season, as game two starter Dylan Seeley had entered the game with a 2-0 record.
- Lafayette has now won seven of its previous eight games against the Bison.
- Last season, the Leopards also won three of four games in the weekend series leading up to their Liberty Bell Classic championship game. In 2007, Lafayette won three games against Navy before defeating Lehigh 7-3 in the championship game just days later.
