LEWISBURG, Pa. - After freshman righthander Chris Acker teamed up with junior righthander Tyler Austin to pitch the Tigers (16-20-1) to an 8-1 victory in the first game, six Bucknell University (17-23) pitchers combined on a four-hitter in the nightcap as the Tigers and the Bison split a non-conference doubleheader at DePew Field on Wednesday afternoon.
After the Tigers posted an 8-1 victory in the opener, the Bison came back to win the second game, 7-1.
In the opener, Acker earned the first victory of his college career when he pitched five shutout innings against the Bison. Making his second career start, he allowed only two hits and walked one. He had five strikeouts in the best outing of his young career.
Austin nailed down the victory with two innings of solid relief. Austin allowed one run on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
Sophomore second baseman Scott Glass spoiled the shutout when he hit a solo home run to left field, leading off the bottom of the sixth inning for Bucknell.
The Tigers snapped a scoreless tie in the second inning when they rallied for five runs. With one out, freshman Dominic Fratantuono doubled to right centerfield. Senior rightfielder Steve Rice followed with a single to left field, scoring Fratantuono with the Tigers' first run. Rice, who advanced to second base on an error by the leftfielder, scored on a double to right centerfield by junior centerfielder Ben Winter.
An RBI single by freshman second baseman Mike Draper drove in Winter to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. When senior shortstop Nick Natoli (left) doubled down the leftfield line, Draper advanced to third base. A walk to freshman first baseman Hunter Bennett loaded the bases and knocked freshman righthander Jack McLinden out of the game.
Sophomore righthander Marcus Garone relieved McLinden with one out in the second inning. A sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Chris Wychock enabled Draper to score, upping the lead to 4-0. With Natoli on second and Bennett on first, the Tigers pulled off a double steal. Natoli scored on a throwing error by freshman catcher Justin Meier, giving the Tigers a 5-0 advantage. Junior Andrew Parker was retired on a fly ball to centerfield, ending the inning.
In the top of the sixth, the Tigers added an unearned run. Pinch hitter Brandon Gonnella led off with a single through the right side. He advanced to second base on an infield grounder and moved to third base on a wild pitch. Gonnella scored on a throwing error by Meier to give the Tigers a 6-0 advantage.
Austin came on to relieve Acker in the bottom of the sixth inning and gave up a leadoff homer to Glass, making it a 6-1 game.
In the top of the seventh, the Tigers added two more runs. Natoli led off with a walk. After he stole second base, he scored all the way from second on a passed ball. After a walk to Wychock, Parker doubled to centerfield. Senior designated hitter Austin Harclerode reached base on an error by shortstop Travis Clark as Wychock scored to give the Tigers an 8-1 advantage. The Bison escaped the jam when Gonnella lined into an unassisted double play to third baseman Will Mooney.
The error by Clark was Bucknell's fifth error of the game.
Led by Natoli, who was two-for-three, the Tigers outhit Bucknell by a 9-5 margin.
In the second game, sophomore righthander Dan Goldstein combined with five relief pitchers to shut out the Tigers until the ninth inning.
Despite hitting into five double plays, the Bison scored seven runs on 12 hits to earn the split.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Bison rallied for four runs against senior righthander Tyler Bugna. Junior catcher Scott Reed started the rally with a single to centerfield. Reed advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by junior designated hitter Matt Lamore. After Bugna struck out freshman second baseman Corey Furman, he issued a walk to sophomore shortstop Robb Scott, giving the Bison runners on first and second with two outs.
It turned out to be a costly walk by Bugna. Pinch hitter Luke Lombardi gave Bucknell a 1-0 lead when he singled to rightfield. Then, junior centerfielder Bob Donato blasted a three-run homer over the centerfield fence to extend the lead to 4-0. It was his seventh home run of the season.
With the help of the Tiger infield, Bugna and Gonnella kept the Bison off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. In the third inning, junior third baseman David Duffett grounded into a double play to end a rally. In the fourth inning, Scott grounded into an inning-ending double play. In the fifth inning, senior first baseman Doug Shribman ended the inning by hitting into a double play.
After Goldstein and freshman lefthander Dan Weigel shut out the Tigers on three hits through five innings, freshman righthander Gabe Noyalis blanked the Tigers in the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bison added to their lead. Junior rightfielder Gerry Runyan led off the inning with a single to left. Duffett tried to bunt him over to second base and reached on a fielder's choice. Reed doubled down the rightfield line, scoring both runners to make it a 6-0 advantage.
When Lamore singled to centerfield, Reed advanced to third base, giving Bucknell runners at the corners and one out. But, Gonnella pitched out of the jam when Scott grounded to Wychock at third base, who turned the Tigers' fourth double play of the game.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Donato hit a solo homer down the rightfield line to increase the lead to 7-0. After Shribman reached on an infield single, Runyan grounded into a 6-4-3 double play as Towson turned a double play for the fifth straight inning.
When senior righthander Steve Carlin came on to pitch the ninth inning, he inherited a 7-0 lead and a three-hit shutout. However, sophomore designated hitter Cody Reeves led off the inning with a home run to rightfield, making it a 7-1 game. It was Reeves' second homer of the season.
But, Carlin retired the next three hitters in order to nail down the win and the doubleheader split.
The Bison, who are the defending Patriot League champions, outhit the Tigers in the second game, 12-4. Donato led Bucknell by going two-for-four with two homers and four runs batted in. Reed added two hits and drove in two runs while Shribman and Runyan each had a pair of hits.
Reeves, Natoli, Harclerode and junior catcher Brian Wyman accounted for the Tigers' four hits.
Natoli led the Tigers in doubleheader. He was 3-for-7 with two doubles, two stolen bases and two runs scored. No other Tiger had more than one hit.
In the nightcap, the six Bison pitchers held the Tigers to one run on four hits while walking only one and striking out five. Goldstein earned the win as he improved to 1-0 on the season. Bugna suffered the loss as he dropped to 3-2.
The Tigers will be idle until next Tuesday afternoon when they return to John B. Schuerholz Park to host Maryland Eastern Shore in a non-conference game at 3:00 p.m.
