Bison Softball faced Lafayette in a three-game series last weekend. Although Saturday did not end in their favor, the Orange and Blue turned around to dominate the Leopards and finish the weekend 2-1.
Savannah Jones ʼ25 started on the mound for the Bison. She continued to pitch three perfect innings and prevented any hits from Lafayette. In the third inning, the Orange and Blue jumped to a 3-0 lead. MacKenzie Hilling ʼ25 was walked at her at bat. Marissa Rapino ʼ26 followed with a single. Kate Dailor ʼ28 was put on base to pinch run for Hilling. Brooke Popella ʼ27 brought in a run when she hit a single off Lafayette’s pitcher. Shea Malone ʼ28 was next with an RBI to bring in the second run of the game. Jones stole second, which caused an error on the Leopards’ end, bringing in the third run of the inning.
Lafayette managed to tie the game in the next inning before Jones was pulled off the mound. Madison Roukey ʼ25 was the replacement and struck out one batter. Back-to-back errors proved costly for the Bison and Lafayette brought in two more runs to obtain the lead.
Roukey remained in the circle in the fifth inning. The Leopards tallied one more run after a hit that fell in between two Bucknell outfielders.
Popella singled in the following inning, helping the Bison get something started. Malone advanced her to third base. Jones walked. A wild pitch from Lafayette brought Popella in for their fourth and final run. The game ended 6-4 in favor of the Leopards. Action would continue the following day for a doubleheader between the two Patriot League teams.
Roukey was the starting pitcher for the Bison on Sunday afternoon and pitched her eighth career shutout. Offensively, the Orange and Blue got to work right away in the first inning. Haley Speicher ʼ26 hit a single that just made it past the infield. Hilling bunted to help advance Speicher to second. Rapino’s hit got her teammate to third base. Popella hit a grounder down left field and Speicher was home safe.
The Orange and Blue scored a second run in the second inning, starting with Molly Lawson ʼ27 making it to first base on a walk. Bella Radican’s ʼ25 sacrifice bunt got her to first, after nearly being called out. Angelina Seropian ʼ26 followed with a hit directly to Lafayette’s third baseman who forced Lawson out, but after a wild throw, Radican found third safely. Both Seropian and Radican went for the steal and successfully brought in the second run when the Leopards threw to second to get Seropian out.
Lafayette’s only threatening opportunities came in the fifth inning. However, Roukey’s composure kept them scoreless. The Bison ended the game after catching a pop-up to right field. The final score was 2-0, breaking their 11-game losing streak.
Jones started in the circle for the third and final game of the series against Lafayette.
Lawson, Radican, Seropian and Speicher’s at-bats helped bring in two runs for the Bison in the second inning. Jones hit a pop-up sacrifice that brought in the second run. The Leopards made efforts to tie up the game, but Jones managed to close out the inning with a strikeout and pop-up before any damage could be done.
The Bison continued to score in the third inning. Popella singled and was replaced by Dailor on the base. Hilling’s double got Dailor to third. Dailor ran home on a wild pitch but was tagged out by the Lafayette catcher. Lawson hit an RBI-single to bring in Hilling as the scoreboard read two outs. Radican and Seropian each followed with singles and Lawson got home for the fourth run of the afternoon.
Lafayette’s first runs of the day came in the fifth inning. Jones let up three singles that resulted in one run. Roukey then came in as the relief pitcher and got to work, closing out the inning before the Leopards could score again.
The Bison tallied three more runs in the next inning, but Lafayette did not give up. The Bison let up one more run before Roukey got the final out. The Bison won their second game of the day 8-2.
Softball will face Colgate this weekend at home in Lewisburg, Pa. in a three-game series.
