EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette baseball team dropped its game on Sunday to the Bucknell Bison, 8-13, in seven innings.
The Leopards were led by sophomore
Pete Ciuffreda who went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, including a double. Senior
Ethan Stern went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI while freshman
Blaze Fadio hit his fourth home run of the season.
Starting pitcher junior
Jake Bloss went 2.0 innings.
In a must win game for the Bison, Bucknell (11-22, 11-15 PL) got on the board quickly in the first inning, plating three runs to take a 3-0 lead.
Junior
Justin Johnson started off the bottom of the first for Lafayette (13-15, 12-13 PL) by getting on base after being hit by a pitch. Stern then singled, moving Johnson up to second and both then advanced a base on a double steal. Ciuffreda doubled to bring home both runners and pull the Leopards within one of the Bison.
Junior
Zach Savage then singled to bring home Ciuffreda and tie the game up at three runs each.
Bucknell added a run in the top of the second to take the lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
Seniors
Bill Russo and
Michael Landry started off the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles putting runners on first and second for Johnson who singled, bringing home Russo to tie the game up at four.
Both Landry and Johnson advanced a base on a throwing error by the Bison and Landry crossed home plate to put the Leopards up 5-4. Johnson then came home on a fielder's choice to put the Leopards up by two. And then with Ciuffreda on base after singling, Fadio hit his fourth home run of the season to bring the score to 8-4 in favor of the Maroon and White.
Bucknell responded with six runs in the top of the third to take a 10-8 lead. The Bison then added one more in the fourth, one more in the fifth and one more in the seven to walk away with a 13-8 victory.
Due to inclement weather, game two of the originally scheduled Sunday doubleheader was postponed.
After sweeping Bucknell in Saturday's doubleheader, Lafayette has clinched a spot in the upcoming 2021 Patriot League Tournament. Seeding and opponents will be determined after the completion of the rest of the league's regular season games.
