Andrew Arnao
Sports Editor
Andrew Andreychik ’16 provided the baseball team with its lone victory against visiting Army last weekend, throwing a four-hit shutout following three Bison losses to the Black Knights. The Bison also dropped two games at St. Bonaventure on April 23, despite another fantastic pitching performance from Xavier Hammond ’15.
Looking to salvage the four-game series, Andreychik took the mound following game three on April 21, and delivered with a gem. In the 5-0 Bison victory, Andreychik struck out eight and walked only one, facing just five batters over the minimum. Backing Andreychik on offense was right fielder Joe Ogren ’16, whose two-out double gave the Bison a 4-0 lead in the third inning, as well as RBI hits from second baseman Travis Clark ’13 and first baseman Rob Krentzman ’15.
The Orange and the Blue played their first two games against Army on April 20, marking their first home games against Patriot League opponents this season. Starting game one for the Bison was Bryson Hough ’15, who gave up seven runs (five earned) in the eventual 7-0 loss. Hough surrendered nine hits in 6.2 innings of work, while also striking out four and walking none. The offense sputtered behind Hough with only three Bison recording a total of four hits against Army’s Chris Rowley, the reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the Year.
Looking to get the Bison back on track, Dan Weigel ’14 delivered an outstanding performance in game two, pitching nine innings while allowing only three runs (two earned) on six hits and striking out eight. The Orange and the Blue fell in a 2-0 hole after Army scored twice in the second inning, but a bases-loaded walk from third baseman Carter Bumgardner ’13 in the fifth and an RBI single by catcher Justin Meier ’14 in the sixth knotted the score at 2-2. The score remained tied until the 10th inning, where Army finally got to Weigel and relief pitcher Max Kra ’16 for three runs. The Bison were unable to rally in their half of the tenth, and dropped their second game to Army by a final of 5-2.
“The Army series was a bit of a tough weekend for us,” outfielder Matt Busch ’13 said. “I think we came out kind of flat in the first game and then couldn’t find the big hit in the next two.”
Game three on April 21 also turned out to be a tough one for the Orange and the Blue as they once again lost in extra innings, this time 3-2. Similar to game two, Army took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, and the Bison tied it up 2-2 thanks to a pair of RBIs from Bumgardner. As the game went into extras, starter Dan Goldstein ’13 gave up his third run of the game in the eighth inning, but the Bison could not return the favor in their half. Goldstein still recorded a complete game, allowing 10 hits and striking out four in eight innings of work.
Following the Army series, the Bison hit the road to face St. Bonaventure in a doubleheader. The Orange and the Blue were blasted for 10 runs in game one, with Krentzman driving in right fielder Corey Furman ’14 for the lone Bison run in their 10-1 defeat. Game two featured a near no-hitter from Hammond, who came within two outs of the impressive feat. Unfortunately for the Orange and the Blue, a one-out single in the seventh ended the no-hit bit, and St. Bonaventure rallied for three runs to walk off against the Bison 3-2.
Currently fourth in the Patriot League standings, the Bison will host Lafayette this weekend in their final series of the season.
“We have Lafayette [this] weekend and that will be big for us,” Busch said. “We need to come out strong for all four games and get headed in the right direction for the playoffs.”
Seniors will also be honored prior to game one, which will begin at noon Saturday at Depew Field.
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