Here is your Patriot League Semifinal Round Recap.
Lafayette 10 Bucknell 2
LEWISBURG, Pa. – No one, not even Lafayette head coach Joe Kinney, expected Sunday’s starter, Ryan Hanna, to pitch seven innings after throwing three-plus innings on Saturday. Hanna defied expectations, however, and his seven innings of one-run ball helped advance the Leopards to the Patriot League Championship series with a 10-2 win over Bucknell. Lafayette will head to West Point next weekend to face No. 2 seed Army.
The Leopards (24-27) scored in all but two innings as their 10 runs on 18 hits gave Hanna all the run support, and more, that he needed. Leadoff hitter Rob Froio led the offense with a 4-for-5 performance that included two RBI and a run scored. Senior tri-captain Jeff Butler went 3-for-5 and four other batters had multi-hit days.
Lafayette returns to the championship series for the first time since its 2007 Patriot League championship season. The Leopards also faced Army that spring and swept the Black Knights en route to the title.
Lafayette Recap
Bucknell Recap
Army 11 Holy Cross 0
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Kirk Porter fired eight shutout innings and Joey Henshaw and Ben Koenigsfeld homered to power a six-run fourth inning as Army blasted Holy Cross 11-0 in the decisive third game of a Patriot League Tournament best-of-three semifinal series, Sunday afternoon at Doubleday Field.
With the rousing victory, Army advanced to next weekend’s Patriot League Championship Series, where the second-seeded Black Knights will host fourth-seeded Lafayette at Doubleday Field. The Leopards drilled top-seeded Bucknell 10-2 in the decisive third game of those teams’ Patriot League Tournament semifinal series, Sunday in Lewisburg.
After posting a 5-1 win against Holy Cross in the first game of the series on Saturday, Army let a 3-1 lead slip away in the nightcap to force Sunday’s decisive game.
Holy Cross starter Bobby Holmes, who held Army scoreless in relief over the final three innings of Saturday’s second contest, kept the Black Knights’ high-powered offense in check over the first two innings on Sunday. But Army finally broke through against the hard-throwing right-hander in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on three hits to grab a 3-0 lead.
