April 27, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Bucknell, Army, Holy Cross and Lafayette will play in the Patriot League Baseball Tournament beginning on May 9. The Bison are the No. 1 seed and will host No. 4 Lafayette, while No. 2 Army hosts No. 3 Holy Cross in the semifinal matchups on May 9-10. Student-athletes from Bucknell and Army won the Patriot League weekly awards.

Patriot League Baseball Release - 4.27.09

Patriot League Player of the Week (April 20-26)

Ben Yoder, Bucknell Jr., 3B, Belleville, Pa.

Yoder helped Bucknell to a share of the regular-season title and the top seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament by posting an impressive series as the Bison won three of four games at Lehigh. He batted .588 (10-for-17) in Bucknell's six games last week, including a 9-for-15 clip against the Mountain Hawks. Yoder tallied two home runs, seven RBI and eight runs scored against Lehigh, and also walked three times and stole a base. Yoder had a strong showing in the final game of the series as the Bison clinched the No. 1 seed, going 4-for-6 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored in Bucknell's 17-8 triumph. The four hits were a career high, and Yoder posted three multiple-hit games against the Mountain Hawks. He scored two runs in each of the four contests, and had at least one RBI in all four games. Yoder has at least one RBI in eight consecutive outings. He earns the Patriot League Player of the Week honor for the first time.

Patriot League Pitcher of the Week (April 20-26)

Matt Fouch, Army Jr., P, Stafford, Va.

Fouch earns the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award after a strong performance in Army's 12-2 victory in its series-opening win at Lafayette. Fouch went all seven innings, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out six. The only runs he allowed came on solo home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, after Army had scored nine runs in the top of the frame to break open what had been a 3-0 game. All of the other hits Fouch allowed were singles. Fouch threw his second complete game of the season, and improved to 4-3 on the year. He receives his second Pitcher of the Week honor of the season after winning the first award on Feb. 24.

Patriot League Rookie of the Week (April 20-26)

Zach Price, Army Fr., 2B, Cantonment, Fla.

Price receives his second Patriot League Rookie of the Week award in the past three weeks after a solid showing at the leadoff spot against Lafayette over the weekend. He batted .522 (12-for-23) in Army's five games last week to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, and hit .579 (11-for-19) in the series against the Leopards. Price had multiple-hit outings in each contest, with a trio of three-hit games. He went 6-for-8 with five runs scored and two RBI as Army swept Lafayette on Sunday to clinch a share of first place in the regular-season standings. Price had nine runs scored and three RBI for the week. His 16-game hitting streak is the longest ever for an Army freshman, and the top mark for a Black Knight this season.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Andy Russell, Lehigh So., OF, Doylestown, Pa.

Russell was 12-for-17 with three home runs, 10 RBI and nine runs scored in six games for the Mountain Hawks last week.

Clint Moore, Army So., SS, Greensboro, N.C.

Moore batted .571 (8-for-14) with two triples, two home runs, eight RBI and eight runs scored as Army took three of four games at Lafayette.

Billy Cupelo, Holy Cross Sr., OF, Franklin, Mass.

Cupelo was 9-for-19 with seven runs scored and had at least two hits in every game, including his first collegiate home run, as Holy Cross won three of four from Navy.

Patriot League Notebook

Bucknell, Army, Holy Cross and Lafayette Make League Tourney

Bucknell, Army, Holy Cross and Lafayette have qualified for the Patriot League Baseball Tournament, with the Bison earning the top seed in the field after sweeping Lehigh on Sunday. Bucknell and Army each finished their Patriot League campaign with 13-7 records, but the Bison receive the No. 1 seed and the Black Knights are the No. 2 by virtue of Bucknell's series win against Army on March 28-29. Holy Cross holds an 11-7 record in the League and claims the No. 3 seed. The Crusaders had a make-up doubleheader against Lehigh set for Monday with a chance to tie the Bison and Black Knights in the standings, but the results of those contests would not have changed the Crusaders' No. 3 seed and the games were cancelled. Lafayette was swept by Army on Sunday, but still finished at 9-11 in the Patriot League and held off fifth-place Navy by one game in the standings.

Patriot League Tournament Matchups

The Patriot League Tournament begins on May 9-10 with a pair of semifinal series, followed by the Patriot League Championship series from May 16-17. Both series are best-of-three with a doubleheader on Saturday and single game, if necessary, on Sunday. Each Tournament game will be nine innings long. The matchups for the Patriot League Tournament are listed below.

Semfinals (May 9-10 - best-of-three)

No. 4 Lafayette at No. 1 Bucknell
No. 3 Holy Cross at No. 2 Army

Championship (May 16-17 - best-of-three)

At site of highest remaining seed

Top Three Rolling Into Tournament

Bucknell, Army and Holy Cross will all enter the Patriot League Tournament after strong play down the stretch in the League season. Bucknell won 10 of its 13 final League games to claim the top seed in the field, while Army claimed 12 of its last 14 contests to tie the Bison in the standings and earn the No. 2 seed. Holy Cross won its last two series to notch six victories in its final eight League games.

Final Leaders In League action

Holy Cross' Matt Perry, Bucknell's Trey Frahler and a host of Army players are at the top of the list of the final statistics from Patriot League games. Perry led all players with a .486 batting average and .525 on-base percentage in League action, while Frahler threw to a League-best 2.84 ERA. Perry tied Army's Joey Henshaw with 34 hits in League action, while Henshaw also tied for the lead in home runs (6) and held the mark for RBI (31) and total bases (59). Army's J.P. Polchinski led in slugging percentage and tied Henshaw in home runs, while Zach Price led the way for the Black Knights and Patriot League in steals and runs in League action. Army's Ben Koenigsfeld led all Patriot League pitchers in wins (5), innings pitched (34), strikeouts (29), complete games (4) and opponents batting average (.218). Army led all teams by hitting .359 in League play, while Bucknell topped the pitching category with a 5.51 team ERA against Patriot League competition.

Bucknell Graduate Hits The Majors

Less than five years after being signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies, 2004 Bucknell graduate Matt Daley was called up to the Rockies active roster on Wednesday. Daley debuted out of the bullpen with a scoreless seventh inning with a walk and a strikeout on Saturday in a 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Daley is the first Bucknell and Patriot League player to appear in a Major League Baseball game since Eric Junge saw action in six games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003. Junge is the only other former Patriot League player to make it to the major leagues

Milestone Wins For Patriot League Coaches

Bucknell Head Coach Gene Depew ended a year of milestone wins for League coaches by earning his 200th Patriot League victory on Saturday against Lehigh. Depew previously won his 500th career game in March. Army Head Coach Joe Sottolano recorded his 250th career win on April 12 against Navy, and Lafayette's Joe Kinney took his 200th career victory on April 4. Navy's Paul Kostacopoulos earned his 100th win at the school to open the season.

Team Notebooks

Army The Black Knights stayed hot by winning three of four games at Lafayette over the weekend, clinching at least a share of the regular-season title for the fourth time in the past six years and making the Patriot League Tournament for the fifth time in that span. Army won 12 of its final 14 Patriot League games after a 1-5 start. Zach Price extended his hitting streak to 16 games in the series, and finished at a .425 clip in Patriot League games. Clint Moore (.433), Joey Henshaw (.425), Kevin McKague (.411) and J.P. Polchinski (.406) also hit over .400 in League action. Henshaw hit safely in all 20 Patriot League games. Moore and Henshaw each belted a pair of home runs over the weekend, leading Army's 12 HR binge in the series against Lafayette. It was the most home runs for the Black Knights in a Patriot League series. Army's 40 home runs this season tie a school record. Army is seven games above .500 for the first time since 2006. It is back in action this week with four non-League games, and hosts Holy Cross in the League semifinals on May 9-10.

Bucknell The Bison earned a share of the Patriot League regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the League Tournament by defeating Lehigh in three of four games over the weekend. Bucknell holds the top seed by virtue of winning three of four games against Army. The Bison are in the field for the fourth time in five years, and enter as the defending champion. Bucknell's 13 wins in Patriot League play matched its most since 2003. The Bison averaged more than eight runs per game in League action. Chris Yamaguchi allowed three runs in seven innings to pick up the win in Bucknell's 7-3 victory in the series opener against Lehigh. Yamaguchi leads the Patriot League and is among the national leaders with seven wins this season, and also has a League-best 3.53 ERA for the year. Andrew Brouse leads the Patriot League in RBI (56) and is tied in home runs (10). Bucknell is off until hosting Lafayette in the Patriot League semifinals May 9-10.

Holy Cross The Crusaders won three of four games at home against Navy to lock up their Patriot League Tournament berth over the weekend. Holy Cross finished 11-7 in League action, and did not play a make-up doubleheader with Lehigh on Monday because the results would not have effected the League Tournament seedings. Holy Cross makes back-to-back Patriot League Tournaments for the first time, and also posted a winning League mark in consecutive years for the first instance. Matt Perry ended Patriot League play with a League-best .486 average, and has a .426 mark for the year. Billy Cupelo hit .411 in the Patriot League after recording a mult-hit game in each outing this weekend. Cupelo also hit his first collegiate home run. Matt Shapiro pitched a complete-game with 10 strikeouts in a 9-5 win in the opener. Holy Cross plays a pair of non-League games this week before going to Army for the Patriot League semifinals on May 9-10.

Lafayette The Leopards dropped three of four games at home to Army this weekend, but still managed to earn the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Lafayette is in the field for the fourth time in the last six years, and first time since winning the League title in 2007. The Leopards defeated Army, 14-8, in the second game on Saturday to give them enough wins for the spot. Corey Shea finished second in the Patriot League in ERA in League games, and is also second overall. The Leopards play five non-League games before going to Bucknell next week for the Patriot League semifinals.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks had their season come to an end after dropping three of four at home to Bucknell over the weekend. Lehigh finished 4-14 in the Patriot League. It scored seven ninth-inning runs, including a game-winning three-run home run by Logan Winchester, for an 11-10 win over Bucknell on Saturday. Lehigh ends the year at 11-36-1 overall.

Navy The Mids failed to qualify for the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2006 after dropping three of four at Holy Cross this weekend. Mike Guadagnini has a career-long 13-game hitting streak. Navy will visit Delaware State on Tuesday and then host New York Tech for a three-game series this weekend to close out the season.