The Bison baseball team traveled to Easton, Pa. on April 6-7 for a three-game Patriot League series against the Lafayette Leopards. The Bison were swept in the series, dropping the three games 11-3, 6-5, and 10-5 after a poor defensive performance. The team bounced back with a 9-8 road win against Towson in a mid-week game on April 9. The team now has a 3-11 record in the Patriot League and a 10-24 overall record.

The Bison struggled defensively in their series against Lafayette, committing 10 errors over three games. The first game started poorly for the Orange and Blue, who committed three defensive errors in the first inning and allowed Lafayette to jump out to an early 4-0 lead.  The team started to scratch across runs in the top of the third, with RBIs from Dominic Toso ’21 and JohnPaul Bell ’20 cutting into the deficit. However, errors continued to be a problem as Lafayette plated five unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning due to the Bison’s poor defensive efforts. The 9-3 lead proved to be insurmountable at that point, and the Orange and Blue eventually fell 11-3.

The second game of the afternoon began much better for the Bison, as they were able to grab the lead early with RBIs from Luke Hartman ’19 and Tyler Wincig ’20. After Evan Madigan ’20 scored on a walk in the third to extend the lead, Lafayette came back with a home run to cut the Bison lead to 3-2 through four innings. An unearned run and another RBI single for Hartman in the fifth stretched the Bison lead to three, but the Leopards responded with a two-run home run to take a 5-4 lead. The Bison’s troubles from last game came back to haunt them as they had another defensive error and allowed the score to be tied up. The game would come down to the last frame as Lafayette won on a walk-off sacrifice fly to win 6-5.

The final game of the series on April 7 did not go the Orange and Blue’s way either, but there were some bright spots in the game. Lafayette only registered two hits in the first inning but were able to score six unearned runs due in part to four errors by the Bison. In the top of the third, the Bison were able to load the bases and get a quick run. Toso then ripped a huge bases-clearing double to bring in three and make the game 6-4.

A Wincig solo homer in the fifth brought the score to 6-5, his team-leading fifth home run of the year. Starting pitcher Jeff Gottesman ’19 also settled down after the first inning and allowed only four hits in six more innings of work.  Lafayette registered four more runs in the seventh, and the game ended 10-5.

The team rebounded on April 9 after a tough weekend to beat Towson on the road in a mid-week non-conference matchup. Bell’s five RBI’s led the Bison to a close 9-8 victory. Nicholas Sadd ’21 picked up the win for the Bison, pitching 2 ⅔ strong innings in relief.

“The win against Towson gave us some momentum moving into a pivotal weekend. As for the team, I’m looking forward to us growing and sticking together,” Bell said. “It hasn’t been an easy year, and we’ve really been tested, but I’m excited to see how we respond.”

The baseball team will be back in action on April 13-14 for a three-game home series against Holy Cross.