The Orange and Blue opened their 2022 campaign with a weekend in Charleston, S.C. The Bison faced off against Ball State in their first game of the season. Big home runs from Brendan Lowery ’22 and Chris Cannizzaro ’22 were not enough to top their opponent in an 8-7 loss.

It was an exciting match-up, with both teams combining for five total home runs. Renn Lints ’22 came up big when it looked like Ball State was going to make a run, and struck out a batter with the bases loaded to keep the Bison within scoring distance. Cannizzaro, named the Preseason Poll Patriot League Player of the Year, brought the Orange and Blue back into the game in the bottom of the fifth with his fifth career home run. The home run brought Anthony Sherwin ’24 home and brought the Bison to a deficit of one run at 6-5. 

The Bison made a big comeback in the eighth, nearly tying the game at 8, but were unable to add the tying run as they fell 8-7.

The Orange and Blue traveled to play Richmond in a tight game once again. An impressive season debut from pitcher Will Greer ’23 gave the Bison a 2-1 lead going into the eighth inning. Richmond came from behind in the eighth, though, scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning and securing a 3-2 win over the Bison. 

The Orange and Blue started off strong keeping a 2-1 lead early on. Greer was replaced after a full seven innings of pitching and finished his outing with just one hit in his final three frames. The Bison outhit their opponents as well 9-6 but were unable to equalize, losing their second straight by just one run.

The Bison had another close game, this time against Iowa. The Orange and Blue kept it tight, but the Hawkeyes started to pull away in the fourth inning. Austin Odell ’22 was on the mound for the Bison and only let up one run to the big power-five opponent. The two teams were scoreless through the first three innings. The Bison were limited to just three hits in the 3-0 decision.

“I think we came out very strong in all three games. We knew these were going to be tough opponents going into the weekend, but we wanted to show out to the best of our ability. We were able to compete well in the beginning of each game, but unfortunately just could not finish out the way we started. I think we learned a lot from this weekend and we are excited to keep moving forward next weekend at Radford,” Cannizzaro said. 

The Orange and Blue return to action for a three-game series at Radford beginning on Friday, Feb. 25.