The baseball team finished a 3-1 homestand against Lehigh on April 5 and 6, improving to 7-1 in Patriot League play. While lights-out pitching had carried the Bison to narrow victories thus far, the offense sprung to life as the Orange and Blue thrashed the Mountain Hawks 7-3 and 11-2 in Saturday’s doubleheader. Bison pitching stayed strong throughout, with starters Bryson Hough ’15 and Dan Weigel ’14 both securing victories. After facing Lehigh, the Orange and Blue challenged Binghamton on the road and surfaced with a 4-1 win on April 8.

“It was a great weekend for the team. All the 35 guys showed up hungry to win the series last weekend.” Anthony Gingerelli ’15 said. “The pitchers continued to throw the ball well and hitters up and down the line up did a great job swinging the bats and manufacturing a way to get on base.”

Gingerelli, Brett Smith ’17, Joe Ogren ’16, and Rob Krentzman ’15 all had a pair of multi-hit games on Saturday for the Bison, including a three-run home run by Gingerelli in game one. Gingerelli leads the team with three home runs this season, including one that came last game against Mount St. Mary’s. Hough kept the Mountain Hawks at bay, pitching his first complete game of the season, striking out five and giving up two earned runs.

Bison bats stayed strong into game one on Sunday, but starting pitcher Andrew Andreychik ’16 stole the spotlight. Andreychik stretched his scoreless inning streak to 26.1 before the Mountain Hawks scored their lone run in the top of the seventh. Still, Andreychik lowered his ERA to 2.25 on Sunday, striking out five and walking none. The Orange and Blue gave Andreychik a more-than-generous cushion, with a five-run second inning before tacking on three in the third and one more in the fourth, leading the Bison to a 9-1 victory.

Sunday’s game two proved more difficult for the Bison, as the Mountain Hawks took an early lead off of starting pitcher Xavier Hammond ’15 in the top of the second. A 2-2 tie was carried into the eighth until a grounder to first was mishandled with two men on and two outs, allowing two runs to score. Corey Furman ’14 and Ogren looked to get a rally started in the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back singles, but the Bison couldn’t capitalize. They went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to fall to Lehigh in the final game 4-2.

The Bison hit the road for their next series against Binghamton. As the first of many road games, the Orange and Blue boded well, as the Bison beat non-Patriot League opponent Binghamton 4-1. Starting pitcher Max Kra ’16 earned the win, lasting five innings, giving up no runs, and allowing two hits. The Bison scored all four of their runs on two-out rallies.

“It was a great to win the series, but it’s a quick turnaround for our series at Army this coming weekend. Another strong week of practice and preparation should put us in a great spot against a good team.” Gingerelli said.

The Orange and Blue have won nine of their past 10 games, placing them atop the Patriot League standings. The Bison now face a tough stretch with the next nine games on the road. The Orange and Blue hope to hold on to first as they face second-place Army this coming weekend, beginning tomorrow and continuing into Sunday.