LEWISBURG, Pa. – Holy Cross and Bucknell split a doubleheader in the final two games of a three-game series today. In game one, sophomore Colleen Ahern (Northbrook, Ill.) had an outstanding performance at the plate in the 7-3 defeat over Bucknell as she went three-for-four adding two RBI and one run scored. Senior Julia Barrett (Gardner, Mass.) earned her second win of the season in the circle. In the final game, Bucknell downed Holy Cross by a score of 6-3 as senior Alex Gustafson (Medford, Mass.) went one-for-two with one RBI and one run scored. The Crusaders move to 4-10 overall and 3-3 in league play while the Bison are now 11-14 on the year and 4-2 in conference action.
Game 1
After a day off from the field of play due to weather conditions the two teams returned to Becker Field this afternoon as Bucknell struck first in the first inning and jumped out to a 2-0 lead off of two hits and one error. Cheyanna Young doubled to right center adding two RBI's.
The offense for Holy Cross came alive in the second inning as the team posted three runs to claim the lead. Junior Emma Keough (Rochester, Mass.) led the inning off with a double to left field. Freshman Emily Krisanda (Oak Hill, Va.) then walked and Ahern mustered a hit to right center as Keough scored. Sophmore Sarah Kane (Jacksonville, Fla.) walked and junior Abigail Lang (Londonderry, N.H.) singled to right field, scoring Krisanda and knotting the score at two. Senior Sarah Free (Claremont, Calif.) was walked with the bases loaded to score Ahern and give Holy Cross the 3-2 lead with two outs in the inning.
The Bison tied the game up 3-3, in the top of the fourth as Colie Escobar singled and Kristen Zahn scored.
In the fifth, Holy Cross added its fourth run of the game off of two hits and one error. Free was walked and stole second base to start things off. Gustafson singled to the starting pitcher, Dana Nielsen, and after the hit Cindy Cherness came on in relief. With Free on third, Keough reached on a fielder's choice as Free was thrown out at home on a throw from the third baseman. Ahern then singled to right field, scoring Keough, to put the Crusaders up 4-3 through five innings of play.
The Crusaders added three insurance runs in the sixth inning to increase their lead to 7-4. Senior Kelliner Croushore (Claremont, Calif.) singled to center field and posted an RBI. Gustafson tallied her second hit of the game and posted two RBI in the process.
In Bucknell's final at-bats Barrett surrendered two hits to the Bison but they were unable to score and Holy Cross came away with the victory.
Barrett (2-3) earned the win in seven full innings pitched giving up seven hits and three runs while striking out six and facing 29 batters. Nielsen (4-7) suffered the loss in four innings of work giving up four runs, four hits and striking out five Crusaders. Cherness threw three innings from the circle while adding two strikeouts.
Game 2
The Bison posted the first run of the contest for the third straight time in the three-game series against the Crusaders. Zahn singled to right field and Jacee Almond scored to take a 1-0 lead in the first. Tori Robinson then doubled to right center field to put Bucknell up 2-0 through two innings of play.
Bucknell added two more runs in the third inning knocking freshman starting pitcher Gennifer Durham (Abbeville, S.C.). out of the game as Barrett came on in relief. The Bison totaled three hits and took advantage of two infield errors to take a 4-0 lead after three complete innings.
Holy Cross posted its first run of the game in the fourth as sophomore Emily Jarvis (Hopkinton, Mass.) was walked with the bases loaded and junior Ashleigh Vargas (Wakefield, Mass.) scored the run.
In the fifth, Croushore singled to left field off of Lara Bean and earned her second RBI of the afternoon to cut the deficit to 4-2. But the Bison took control of the game as they put together two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to hold a 6-2 advantage.
The Crusaders added one run in the top of the six as Gustafson single to left field to score Free, making the score 6-3. In Bucknell's half of the sixth, junior Tori Cheske (Thomaston, Conn.) came in and pitched one-third of an inning.
Holy Cross garnered one hit in the seventh and left two runners on base as the Bison earned their 11th win of the season.
Durham (2-6) took the loss as she threw two innings of work from the circle giving up six hits and four runs as she faced 12 batters. Bean earned the win as she stands with a 5-2 overall record as she faced 22 batters giving up two runs and earning one strikeout in four and one-third innings pitched. Cherness earned her third save of the season as she threw two and thirds innings giving up one run, four hits and striking out three batters in her appearance.
Holy Cross (4-10, 3-3 PL) is back in action on Wednesday, April 2 as the team travels to New Britain, Conn. to play Central Connecticut in a single non-conference game at 4:00 p.m.
