By Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer
On a weekend dedicated to the legacy of head coach Gene Depew, who will be retiring at the end of the season, the baseball team played exceptionally well en route to taging three of four home games from Patriot League rival Lehigh. The Bison are now 19-20 overall and 6-6 in Patriot League play.
In game one, Lehigh defeated the Bison 8-1. Pitcher Dan Weigel ’14 had his second loss of the year, while first baseman Russel Seidell ’12 brought in the lone RBI on a groundout.
“We kind of got off to a slow start in game one but we did a great job bouncing back and not letting the loss affect us,” starting pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 said. “Taking the next three games from Lehigh was huge because they were right behind us in the standings and we’re still at the edge of the playoff bubble.”
Hough played an instrumental role in winning game two, pitching 6.1 strong innings while allowing only three earned runs. The Bison offense also managed to break out, recording 17 hits behind strong efforts from shortstop Robb Scott ’13 (four-for-four with three RBIs), left fielder Colby Vanderbeck ’14 (three-for-four with four RBIs), and designated hitter Carter Bumgardner ’13 (three-for-five with three RBIs). The Bison finished the game on top 11-5.
In game three, Ryan Ebner ’12 pitched a seven-inning, three-hit shutout, the first for the Bison this year. The Bison offense contributed nine hits to the eventual 6-0 victory, with second baseman Travis Clark ’13 leading the way with three hits, including a home run.
Game four featured perhaps the most drama of the series, with five lead changes and a walk-off hit by first baseman Rob Krentzman ’15 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Krentzman’s clutch hit gave the Bison a 7-6 victory.
“We played very well all around this weekend,” Ebner said. “We had guys come up with big hits in big situations, especially Rob Krentzman [with] the game-winning hit in a much needed game four win. I also thought we played great in the field. [Third baseman] Dave Duffett [’12] made a ton of nice plays at third and Robb Scott and Travis Clark made some run-saving plays.”
“We needed to win a series this past weekend and we took care of business,” Depew said. “I thought after losing game one we came back and played our best overall baseball of the season in the last three games. We pitched well, played good defense and got good and timely hitting. We are looking forward to the challenge of going to Army to compete against a team that is 12-0 in the league, [which should be] a great opportunity for us.”
The Bison also traveled to Penn State on Wednesday, where Seidell and Jack Boehm’12 combined to give up only 2 runs over 7 innings, but the offense was quieted by the Nittany Lions, recording only 4 hits in a 2-0 loss.
The Bison’s stint away against undefeated Army starts at noon on Saturday.