Author: cdm016

Categories
Golf Men Sports

Men’s golf places 8th in VA; 9th at Lafayette

By Alex Wagner

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s golf team had a consistent outing the past weekend, finishing eighth at the Manor Intercollegiate and in ninth at the Lafayette Invitational.

The first tournament was held at the Manor Resort in Farmville, Va. on Friday and Saturday. Will Bachman ’12 and Schuyler Stitzer ’14 were the top performers for the Orange and Blue, both finishing in a tie at 29th place, with 233 strokes overall.

Pete Scialabba ’15 was not far behind, finishing with just two more strokes and a tie for 36th. Dan Bernard ’13 and Jon Hartman ’13 rounded out the Bison’s finish with 237 strokes each and a tie for 41st place.

Unfortunately, the individual results did not stack up well, and the Bison ended up in eighth place out of 10 teams with a score of 928. Seton Hall finished the event in first with an overall team score of 880. Dylan Jensen of Longwood put in the best individual performance of 209 strokes.

The Lafayette Invitational, played on Sunday and Monday at the Northampton Country Club in Easton Pa., proved to be a more successful outing for the Orange and Blue. They showed their depth by bringing in five new players for the tournament and placing ninth out of 15 teams.

J.J. Szmadzinski ’13 and Patrick Hagerty ’15 led the way for the Bison, finishing in a tie for 23rd place. Szmadzinski’s high finish was due in part to a wonderful second day of play, in which he shot a 73, just one above par. This score was the eighth best for that day out of a pool of 84 players. Hagerty shot consistently well, with a 78 on Sunday and a 77 the day after.

Billy Wright ’14, Zach Pogust ’15 and Thomas Walter ’14 contributed to the strong team effort, finishing with scores of 156, 160 and 161, respectively.

Hofstra University finished in first place at the event, with an overall team score of 600, while Carter Rufe of Lafayette and Jeremy Foran of St. Francis (PA) tied for the top individual spot with 144.

The next action for the Bison will be the Navy Invitational on April 21.

 

Categories
Softball Sports Women

Softball continues to struggle

By Thomas Walter
Writer

The softball team suffered six losses this week at the hands of Army and Saint Francis (Pa.). Playing at home over the weekend, the Orange and Blue lost all four of their games to the Black Knights with the closest contest being a 6-3 loss on April 14. Following the Patriot League series, the Bison were swept once again by Saint Francis, managing to score just one run in the two games.

The Orange and Blue have been swept in six of their last seven series and have lost 23 out of their last 24 games. Deep into the season, the Bison have nearly played themselves out of title contention and need to find a way to get their bats to come alive if they hope to have any chance to make the league tournament.

Against Army, again the Bison had their chances to score but could not convert.  On the second day of the two-day series, the Orange and the Blue left a total of 12 runners on base. 

On April 17, Saint Francis outscored the Orange and the Blue 15–1 over two games. This continues the streak of the Bison getting violently outscored by all the opponents they have faced in the last two months.

Currently, the squad sits at 6-31 with a 0-12 record in the Patriot League.

“We are going to continue giving our all every pitch,” catcher/outfielder Meredith Dickson ’12 said. “We are looking forward  to coming together as a team. Our love for the game will show through.”

The Bison will host Holy Cross this coming weekend before traveling to Lafayette for their final series of the regular season.

Categories
Baseball Featured Men Sports

Coach Gene Depew to retire after 31 seasons

By Eric Brod
Senior Writer

When Gene Depew’s career comes to an end at the conclusion of the 2012 season, his 31st as manager for Bison baseball, he will leave a legacy as the top manager in program history and one of the greatest leaders of the entire sports program. While accumulating numerous personal accolades, Depew has established the Bison as a perennial contender in the Patriot League and one of the most consistent programs in the nation. More than that, he has molded leaders through his teaching of baseball and life.

Depew, a 1971 graduate of the University, has won Patriot League Coach of the year four times (1993, 1996, 2003, 2009) and over his 31 years as manager has racked up 570 wins, by the far the most in program history. What is most impressive is how much the program has improved throughout his career, especially within the past 16 seasons.

During this time, the Orange and Blue have finished in first or second in regular season league play eight times, have recorded 20 wins in 12 of those years and have had three 30-win seasons. Most impressively, the team has won five league tournament titles and captured the regular season title six times in past 16 years.

From 2008 to 2010, he was at the helm of three Patriot League title teams, with the team winning the league tournament in 2008 and 2010 and earning a regular season title in 2009. These three seasons represent arguably the most impressive stretch in program history. In 2010, Depew led the team to its fifth league title during his career as the fourth-seeded Bison defeated both top-seeded Army and two-seed Holy Cross on back to back weekends. During the 2009 campaign, Depew guided the team to a 13-7 record in league play. In 2008, Depew oversaw the most memorable and impressive win in program history when the Orange and Blue defeated No. 4 Florida State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. For Depew, this was also the most memorable moment of his career:

“I can’t choose a [favorite] team, there have been too many great ones. I can choose a game and memory: the Florida State 7-0 win in the NCAA tournament in 2008.”

It was only the fourth time ever that a Patriot League team won a game in the NCAA tournament.

Depew has also overseen great individual players, having coached four Patriot League Pitchers of the year (Mike Tomko, 1996; Mike Anders, 1998; Kevin Miller, 2003; Ryan Ebner, 2011), four Patriot League Players of the year (Kevin Silverman, 1996; Frank Fresconi, 2000; Jason Buursma, 2008; Andrew Brouse, 2010) and two Rookies of the Year (Phil Futrick, 2003; Ben Yoder, 2007). While all the accolades won through his time have meant a lot, Depew says the most rewarding part has been to work with so many different players.

“The opportunity to work with talented, motivated and quality student athletes. So many things have changed over the years, but that has been the constant,” Depew said.

For Bob Donato ’12, Coach Depew has certainly left a mark.

“Throughout the four years I have been with Coach Depew I have learned to always look at the positive side of things,” Donato said. “He wants us to get better every day and put everything we have into it.”

Depew’s presence was felt off the field as well. 

“My favorite memory is the Johnny The Bell Hop card trick that [Depew] does at the airport right before we fly down to Florida for spring break. He has never messed it up in my four years,” Donato said.

While Depew still has to finish this season out, he already has an idea of what he wants his lasting legacy to be on the program.

“I want to be remembered as someone who contributed to a positive Bucknell educational experience for my players.”

 

 

 

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Baseball takes down Lehigh

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.

Categories
Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax wins by two

By Ajan Caneda
Writer

Katelyn Miller ’14 posted four goals last Saturday to power the women’s lacrosse team to a 16-12 victory at Binghamton. The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Bison.

Along with tough defense, the Orange and Blue had a balanced offense that allowed them to pull off another come-from-behind win.

“Everyone came into the game fired up and played to win,” Molly Ford ’14 said. “We implemented a new sub rotation that allowed us to get more speed and aggression from defensive-minded players on our rides and clears and attack-minded players into the offense.”

After Binghamton scored two goals in the opening minutes of the game, Ford scored a goal off an assist from Arriana Sajjad ’15. The Bison got off to a slow start, though, as the Bearcats grabbed an early 5-1 lead. Sajjad then nailed two goals as part of a 3-0 run, and by halftime, the game was tied at 7-7.

Binghamton committed 13 fouls in the first half, while the Bison forced eight turnovers that gave them momentum going into the second half.

Midfielder Sophie Kleinert ’14 scored an unassisted goal five minutes into the second half, giving the Orange and Blue their first lead of the game. Subsequent goals by Ryan Wenk ’13 and Sajjad extended the lead to three.

Binghamton would not go away as two Bearcat goals narrowed the deficit to one. Following a goal by Miller, two more Bearcats scored to knot the game at 11-11. Both teams went scoreless for nearly seven minutes before midfielder Blair McDonald ’15 capitalized on a free position shot to break the tie. The Bison didn’t keep the lead for long as the Bearcats evened the score to 12-12 with 8:57 left in the game. But Miller nailed two goals that sparked a 4-0 Bison run to seal the victory.

“We learned from the Lafayette game how important clock management was in the end of the game, especially when the game was tied,” Miller said. “You could see by watching that everyone on the field really wanted the win and left everything on the field to the last second, and it clearly paid off.”

Sajjad continued her offensive tear, scoring three goals and adding one assist. Emily Kookogey ’15, Ford, and McDonald had two goals each. Goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 made key defensive stops down the stretch and finished with seven saves.

The Bison will be looking to pick up their first conference victory as they return home to face Colgate on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We are focused on getting out first Patriot League win against Colgate. We need to carry our fire and confidence from Saturday over into that game,” Ford said.

Categories
Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax falls in final seconds

By Reed Dempsey
Writer

Tied with 14 seconds remaining on the clock, the men’s lacrosse team suffered a crushing 9-8 defeat at the hands of No. 11 Lehigh this past Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa.

Heading into the game with a 3-1 conference record, the Orange and Blue understood the matchup’s important playoff implications. The winner would remain tied atop the Patriot League standings going into the final week of the season with a chance to host the league tournament.

After four and a half minutes of play, Nick Gantsoudes ’12 opened the day’s scoring with an unassisted goal but the Mountain Hawks gained possession of the ensuing faceoff and tied the game just 23 seconds later.

The Bison regained their lead as Peter Burke ’14 found Billy Eisenreich ’12 with 3:42 left in the first quarter. But what looked to be a 2-1 Bison lead heading into the end of the first quarter ended abruptly as Lehigh tied the game at two apiece with one second remaining.

In the opening five minutes of the second quarter, the Bison found the back of the net twice, extending their lead to 4-2. Burke scored on an unassisted tally at the 14:12 mark followed by a goal from David Dickson ’15, assisted by Gantsoudes.

Lehigh cut the lead to a single goal with one minute remaining in the half, but the Orange and Blue has some last second antics of their own as Eisenreich found Chase Bailey ’13 for his 25th goal of the season and a 5-3 halftime lead.

The Orange and Blue were held scoreless in the third quarter as the Mountain Hawks scored three straight to take their first lead of the day. During this run, extended possessions by Lehigh disrupted the success of the Bison offense.

“Lehigh did a great job of possessing the ball in the second half and that limited our opportunities to get in a flow on offense,” attackman Todd Heritage ’14 said.

According to head coach Frank Fedorjaka, the Mountain Hawks were able to take advantage of mental mistakes during an otherwise strong defensive performance.

“Defensively we played terrific, but we had a few mental lapses and Lehigh capitalized on them,” Fedorjaka said.

After the Bison failed to convert on their first four extra-man opportunities of the game, a cross-checking penalty on Lehigh at the end of the third quarter carried over to the fourth where Eisenreich found Dickson to tie the game at six.

Six minutes later, Burke scored his second goal of the day, giving the Bison their fifth lead of the day, but it only lasted 81 seconds  as the Mountain Hawks once again worked quickly to tie the game.

The Mountain Hawks dominated the faceoff  “x” all afternoon, going 13 for 18. After Eisenreich scored his second of the day and 30th of the year, Lehigh’s Ryan Snyder gained possession on the ensuing faceoff, raced the ball down the field and scored to tie the game at 8-8.

The Bison gained possession on the following faceoff, but a saved shot and turnover gave the Mountain Hawks the ball with three minutes remaining. Lehigh successfully cleared the ball into their offensive zone and were able to maintain possession before converting on a shot with 14 seconds remaining. The defeat brought the Bison’s record to 9-5.

Even with the loss, the Bison qualified for the Patriot League Tournament. They will face No. 11 Colgate tonight in their regular season finale. (Lehigh advanced to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.) Moving into this matchup and the tournament, Fedorjaka has confidence in his team.

“One thing about winning the Patriot League tournament: the team that gets hot at the right time will have the best chance to win it all,” Fedorjaka said. “We are still getting better every week and that is the most important thing. Hopefully we are going to get hot at the right time. I sense that we are.”

The Bison and Colgate face off tonight at 7 p.m. in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Categories
Featured Sports Water Polo Women

Women’s water polo takes fourth

By Andrew Lichtenauer
Senior Writer

The women’s water polo team finished fourth out of six teams in the Southern Championships at home last weekend. The Orange and Blue defeated George Washington in their first game (17-8) and then lost to No. 14 Princeton (14-6) and Harvard (15-7).

Leading the Bison in their win against George Washington were Julianne Valdes ’14, Ariel Frankeny ’12 and Taylor Barnett ’15. Valdes had six assists against the Colonials, which ties the program’s single-game record for assists. Frankeny and Barnett also both sc0red four goals. The 17 goals marked a season high for the Orange and Blue, who are now 4-0 against George Washington this spring.

In the Princeton game, the Tigers got out to a 7-3 first quarter lead and continued to winden the lead over the next three quarters. In the Harvard game, the Crimson outscored the Bison 9-4 in the first half and never looked back after that.

Valdes had the most impressive showing for the Bison at the Southern Championships, recording a total of eight goals and eight assists in three games played. Valdes’ season point total is now 100, which makes her only the fourth player in program history to have scored 100 points or more in a single season.

The Bison are now 14-21 on the season, and will enjoy a week off from competition before they hit the pool again for the Eastern Championship in Providence, R.I. April 27-29. The winner of the Eastern Championship earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

“For Easterns we will get the chance to play against and defeat several high-level opponents if we step out onto the pool deck confident in our abilities as a team,” Frankeny said. “I absolutely believe that we have the talent and the ability to win any game this weekend, regardless of who we play, and I’m excited to fight it out in the pool one last time before I graduate.”

Categories
Men Sports Tennis

Men’s takes one of three league contests

By Cooper Mead
Writer

The men’s tennis team took one of three contests against Patriot League rivals in a stint of away matches this week. The Bison then returned home to claim a 4-3 victory against Robert Morris.

Facing Army (13-9, 4-0 in the Patriot League) on April 12, the Bison fought a tough match but fell 5-2 to the Black Knights. Josh Katten ’13 and Evan Zimmer ’13 defeated Alex Van Velzer and Peter Sienko 9-7 playing at the No. 2 spot, improving the duo’s winning streak to six. Aidan Lynch ’14 and Gregg Cohenca ’12 also contributed to the solid doubles play at the No. 1 spot as they defeated Asika Isoh and Henry Jang-Milsten in a hard-fought match that culminated in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-5). The win brought the duo their third straight victory.

Despite the team’s doubles prowess, the Bison struggled in the singles arena and dropped all but one of the six possible points. Katten gave the Bison their only win, beating Alex Holland in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.

The Bison rebounded from their tough loss to Army with a convincing 6-1 victory at Lafayette on Sunday.

The team began the match by winning all three of the doubles matchups. Scott Bernstein ’14 and Kelly Morque ’13 at the No. 3 spot won by a score of 8-4, while Katten and Zimmer also  emerged victorious at the No. 2 spot by a score of 8-2. The match marked the first time since their match against Hofstra on Feb. 18 that the Bison have swept the doubles matches. Cohenca’s victory brought his record to 68-46 in his doubles career for the Bison and brought him to third all-time. Only Ryan Sandburg ’09 (87-50) and Ira Reibeisen ’08 (69-60) hold better records.

The Bison’s singles play was also spectacular against the Leopards, taking five of six matches and four in straight sets. Cohenca won his second match of the day at the No. 1 spot against Doug Gallagher (6-3, 6-3) which marked his first singles win in eight matches. Zimmer, Katten, Morque and Gregory Maxson ’12 also won their singles matches.

“Lafayette was a great win for us,” Lynch said. “Everyone stepped up and took care of business. I was really proud of our team.”

The team finished its away stint and its final Patriot League game of the regular season on Tuesday with a tough 5-2 loss to Lehigh. The Hawks brought their record to 7-13 and 2-3 in the Patriot League.

The Bison doubles pairs remained strong as Zimmer and Katten defeated Mark Goldberg and Mitchell Petersen 8-1 at the No. 2 spot. The win gave the partners an undefeated doubles season. Morque and Bernstein also came away with a doubles win against Timur Chernykh and Andrew Krentz at the No. 3 spot by the score of 8-5 and secured the doubles team point.

The team continued to struggle with singles play. At the No. 6 spot, Maxson was the only Bison able to win his match, winning in three sets. Cohenca lost at the No. 1 spot to Goldberg by a score of 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. Zimmer also fought a tough match at the No. 2 position against Ben Gilman but lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

“It was tough to lose to Lehigh. We will go into the tournament as a four seed like last year, but I think we still have a great opportunity to make a run,” Katten said. “The conference is really strong this year and while we may have lost those matches, these teams are well aware of our ability.”

Coming off of their two-win week, the Bison will play at Bloomsburg on Wednesday before traveling to Annapolis, Md. for the Patriot League tournament next weekend.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis earns pair of conference wins

Women’s Tennis v. Lehigh (Fri 3 p.m. HOME), @ Army (Sat 3 p.m.), @ Lafayette (Sun 10:30 a.m.) v. Robert Morris (Wednesday 3 p.m. HOME)

By Lindsay Regruto
Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team picked up two wins out of three straight Patriot League matches this week against Lafayette, Army and Lehigh as well as a 6-1 win against Robert Morris.

The Bison started off the day on Wednesday, April 18 with two wins against Robert Morris in doubles. Courtney Casey ’12 and Lydia Colvin ’15 picked up an 8-2 at the No. 2 spot while Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 followed with a large 8-3 win in the No. 3 spot.

Iepuras went on to battle it out at No. 1 singles winning her match 10-6 in the third set. Daria Tuzhikova ’13 and Casey won in straight sets at the No. 2 and 3 positions, respectively. Lauren Boone ’15 bounced back from a second set loss to take the third set 10-4 winning at the No. 5 position. Morgan followed with a straight set win at the No. 6 spot to give the Orange and Blue a 6-1 win over Robert Morris.

Bouncing back from a tough loss against Army, the Orange and Blue had its largest win of the season defeating Lafayette 7-0 on April 15. Tuzhikova and Elena Vidrascu ’14 won 8-2 at the No.1 doubles spot while Casey and Colvin picked up an 8-4 win at the No.2 spot to pick up the doubles point for the Bison.

“It was good to see everyone play solid and pick up an important win,” head coach Rebecca Helt said. “Right now we’re just focused on getting and keeping everyone healthy for the weekend so we can end our season on a strong note.”

With a 1-0 lead, the Bison went on to sweep all six singles positions. Vidrascu, Colvin, Tuzhikova, Casey and Christie Schneider ’15 won in straight sets while Iepuras came back from a first set loss for the win over the Leopards.

Army proved to be a tougher opponent for the Bison who fell to the Black Knights 7-0 on April 14. Tuzhikova and Vidrascu pulled out a close 8-6 win at No.1 doubles. Army defeated the Bison in the other two doubles positions to take the doubles point. The Black Knights went on to defeat the Bison in all six singles positions despite close matches at No.1 singles by Iepuras and No. 4 singles by Tuzhikova.

The Orange and Blue earned their first Patriot League win of the season defeating Lehigh 5-2 on April 13. The Bison swept all three doubles positions in close matches to earn the doubles point. Starting off the day on a stong note, the Bison went on to earn wins in four out of the six singles positions. 

The Orange and Blue will take on Lehigh on April 20 at 10 a.m.

 

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track dominates in home meet

By Colin Fields
Staff Writer

The men’s track team had an impressive performance as the host university of the Bison Outdoor Classic. The event is unscored for team competition but the Bison toppled more than 20 top-10 marks and are pressing for a third straight outdoor title.

On Sunday, Ray Holmes ’14 increased his career best by nearly two feet in the triple jump with a distance of 48’ 8’’, ranking him third all-time at the University.

“We have a great team this year and our start this season shows the depth of our team on both the men’s and women’s side of the program. We have already had a lot of great performances and everybody is getting better as the weeks tick away towards the Championships,” Holmes said.

The Bison throwers have torn through the Bison record books this season, and last weekend was no different. Leonard Joseph ’13 placed second in the hammer toss by becoming the fourth Bison to ever clear the 200 foot mark and moving him into fourth in Bison history.

There were plenty of personal records broken over the weekend, including Daniel Markwalter ’13 placing third in the pole vault clearing 15’ 9’’, moving him into fourth in program history.

On the track Robert Arent ’12 and Christian Lupica ’15 performed well in the 400 meter hurdles. Arent finished third with a time of 53.02 and Lupica 10th with a time of 55.08 seconds, moving him into the top 10 in Bison history.

“As a team, we’ve been training hard and not really worrying about peaking yet, so the fact that we are still competing so well as a whole just means that by the championship portion of our season, when everyone is at their peak form, we are going to be a really tough team to beat,” Lupica said.

The Bison are hosts again this weekend at the Bison Team Challenge, the season finale for the Bison at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

“Competing at home allows us to be more relaxed and comfortable which is conducive to getting good marks on the track and in the field. We’re looking to win our third outdoor championship in a row. Getting this outdoor season off to a good start puts us in good position to defend our championship title,” Arent said.

The Patriot League Championships will be held May 4 and 5 in Worcester, Mass.