LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania – The Holy Cross baseball team battled for a 6-3 Patriot League victory at Bucknell, earning the three-game weekend sweep and the team's fifth straight victory on Sunday, April 14.

STATS LEADERS:

• David Kale: 2-for-4, double, two RBI
• Austin Masel: 2-for-5, two triples, RBI
• Alex Gionis: 1-for-1, two walks, double, two RBI
• Evan Blum: 1-for-3, two walks, three runs scored
• Liam Dvorak: 6.2 IP, one earned run, four hits, six strikeouts

W: C.J. McKennitt (2-4)
L: Brenden Tuttle (1-2)
S: Noah Luckenbaugh (1)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Holy Cross had chances early, as junior center fielder Austin Masel hit a one-out triple in the top of the first, but he was unable to score. Similarly, in the top of the third, senior second baseman Alex Gionis was issued a leadoff walk and moved to third after freshman right fielder Ben Malgeri hit a single into center field. Malgeri advanced to second on the throw, but even with runners on second and third and only one out, Holy Cross could not convert.
• The Crusaders finally took advantage of an opportunity in the fourth, when sophomore designated hitter Evan Blum led off the inning with a walk and moved to second after a single from sophomore first baseman Andrew Selima. Junior catcher Riley Livingston moved up the runners with a sacrifice bunt, and sophomore left fielder David Kale had a sac fly to score Blum from third and give Holy Cross the 1-0 lead.
• With junior third baseman Alex Volpi on base, Masel unleashed his second triple of the game to make it a 2-0 score.
• Sophomore righty Liam Dvorak kept the Bison off the board for the first 6.2 innings of the game, allowing just three hits in that span before a two-out double put a runner in scoring position for Bucknell.
• After a walk was issued by sophomore reliever Kyle Johnson, the Bison then had a two-run double to even the game at 2-2; freshman reliever C.J. McKennitt was able to strand two runners and keep the game tied headed into the top of the eighth.
• Blum and Selima were issued back-to-back walks to lead off the eighth. Livingston advanced the runners with another sacrifice bunt, and Kale unleashed a double into left-center field to give the lead right back to the Crusaders. Volpi was issued a walk in the next at-bat, and after a Bucknell pitching change, Gionis had a two-run double of his own to push the Crusader lead to 6-2.
• A balk scored a third run for the Bison in the bottom of the eighth, but Bucknell could do no more damage.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Holy Cross has won five straight road games and improves to 13-24 overall with an 8-5 mark in Patriot League play. Bucknell is now 10-27 and 3-14 in the Patriot League.
• This is the Crusaders' longest winning streak since the team secured six straight wins between April 8 and April 15, 2017.
• Blum has now reached base in 19 consecutive games; he is hitting .345 (20-for-58) in that stretch with 11 RBI. He has been the Crusaders' best hitter in conference play thus far, with a .341 average, ranking seventh in the Patriot League.
• Both Kale and Malgeri are on a reached-base streak of 10 games.
• With two sacrifice bunts on Sunday, Livingston now has 12 sacrifice bunts on the year, one shy of tying the Holy Cross single-season record.
• For the second time in his career, Masel recorded two triples in a single game. He previously had two triples in an 11-4 win over Lehigh on March 31, 2018.
• Dvorak has allowed just two earned runs over his last four outings; with the no-decision on Sunday, he lowered his season ERA to 2.59, while his conference ERA moves to a league-best 0.65.

DUE UP:

• Holy Cross will round out an eight-game road trip with a Patriot League matchup at Army on Wednesday, April 17.
• First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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