This weekend, Baseball traveled to Spartanburg, S.C. where they played Towson twice and Wofford once.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, the Bison played a double-header versus Towson and Wofford.
The first game was at 12 p.m. against Towson where the Bison lost 14-3. Towson came out strong and scored four unearned runs off pitcher Hadley Maxwell ’26 in the first. In the third inning, the Tigers added six more runs.
The Orange and Blue got on the board in the fourth inning when Billy Kender ’25 led off with a single and advanced to third on Michael Trommer’s ’26 double. Nic Adamo ’24 followed with a two-run single up the middle.
At the top of the sixth, Towson added four more runs.
Tyler Dunn’s ’25 RBI groundout in the ninth inning finished the scoring.
For the Bison, Sean Keys ’25 went 3-for-3 along with a walk and a hit by pitch, while Adamo added two hits. Additionally, Mikey Myro ’26 pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in relief with three strikeouts.
The second game on Saturday was against Wofford, who defeated the Bison 17-9.
The Bison had four first-years in the starting lineup that day in the 5-8 spots in the batting order. Andrew Swenson ’27 and Luke Nascimento ’27 combined for five hits, while Matt Alexander ’27, Dunn and Grant Voytovich ’24 had two hits. Overall, the Bison outhit Wofford 14-12.
The Bison led 2-0 after only two batters as Keys smashed a two-run homer. This marked Keys’ 15th career home run. Michael Chiavarallo ’27 walked with two outs, Chris Morabito ’27 singled and Nascimento reached on an infield hit to make it 3-0.
At the bottom of the first, Wofford scored their first run. The Terriers then changed the momentum in the game, tallying seven runs in the bottom of the third.
The Orange and Blue cut their deficit with a single run in the fourth on Jacob Corson’s ’24 RBI groundout and two more in the fifth on Swenson’s two-run double. Down just 8-6, the Bison conceded six runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Dunn doubled home a run in the sixth, later followed by Alexander’s two-run single in the ninth, closing out scoring for the day. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough for Bucknell to secure a win. Throughout the game, Bucknell used four pitchers.
On Sunday, Feb. 18, the Bison played Towson again before departing South Carolina. Luckily, this time, they flipped the script and beat Towson 7-3. This marked the Bison’s first win of the season.
Throughout the game, Corson earned three hits, while first-year pitchers Jake Schultz ’27 and Jack O’Malley ’27 combined for six shutout innings. These Bison pitched well and played error-free ball.
Schultz started on the mound and did not allow a hit until a one-out single in the fourth inning. O’Malley entered with two on and two outs in the fourth and proceeded to strike out the Towson batter.
O’Malley earned himself a first career win and Nick Mulvey ’25 recorded an eight-out save.
In the fifth inning, Corson tripled with one out and scored on Voytovich’s sacrifice fly ball. The Bison tallied two more in the sixth.
To start the seventh inning, Ethan Firestein ’26 made his collegiate debut, after missing last season due to injury. Firestein allowed a few hits and a walk, so Mulvey stepped in to finish the job.
The Bison made it 4-2 in the eighth on Corson’s RBI single. In the top of the ninth, the Bison tallied three insurance runs to make it 7-2. Those runs were very important for the Bison, as Towson scored one more time when at bat.
The Orange and Blue will play a four-game series against the University of Massachusetts next Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Colonial Heights, Virginia.
