May 17, 2008
Annapolis, Md. - Bucknell rallied from five runs down for the second game in a row against Navy and won the Patriot League Baseball Championship when Ed Rubbo singled in Jason Buursma with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for an 8-7 victory in game two of the series at Navy's Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
The No. 4 seed Bison (26-22-2) earned the 2-0 series victory to claim their first title since 2003, and fourth overall. They won game one, 7-6, on Friday. Bucknell earns the Patriot League's automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals, which begin on May 30. The Bison will find out their opponents and site when the field is announced on May 26.
No. 2 seed Navy finishes its season with a record of 32-25-1.
Buursma ended a terrific Patriot League Tournament by earning the victory with a perfect ninth inning, He started off the bottom of ninth inning with a single, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. When Rubbo singled to right, Buursma barely beat the throw home by Navy's Michael Speciale to give Bucknell the title.
Buursma earned all four of Bucknell's victories out of relief in the Tournament and threw 10 combined scoreless innings in the Bison's games against Army and Navy. He earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors, and became the first student-athlete in Patriot League Baseball history to earn Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Tournament MVP honors in the same season.
Once again, a big rally by Bucknell allowed Buursma to come into a close game in the late innings. After coming back from down five runs in the seventh inning on Friday, the Bison had to overcome a 7-2 deficit heading into the bottom of the sixth on Saturday. Buursma got things going with a leadoff home run in that frame, and the Bison got another run back when pinch-hitter Austin Turban came up with a two-out RBI single to cut the Navy lead to 7-4.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth, when Bucknell put three runs on the board to tie the game against Navy pitcher Mark McCoy. After a triple by John Avanzino and walk to Andrew Brouse to lead off the inning, Shawn Hirsch belted a two-run double off the wall in right center field to cut Bucknell's deficit to 7-6. Rubbo put down a sacrifice bunt to move Hirsch to third, and the Bison tied the score when Ben Allen lifted a sacrifice fly to foul territory in left field to even the score at 7-7.
Navy built its advantage by scoring runs in five of the first six innings. The Mids took a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Speciale in the top of the first, and extended it to 4-0 with single runs in the second and third innings.
Bucknell cut it to 4-2 with an RBI triple by Hirsch and a sacrifice fly by Rubbo in the bottom of the fourth, but the Mids came right back with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Speciale and a two-out RBI single by Jonathan Wright.
Navy added their final run in the top of the sixth, when Thomas Hamilton singled in Hollins to make it 7-2. That play also gave Hamilton a Patriot League single-season record 89 hits for the year.
The Bison improve to 4-4 all-time in the Patriot League Championship series, with all of their titles coming against Navy. Their three previous crowns came in 1996, 2001 and 2003. They join Army in a tie for second in League annals with the four championships, trailing only Navy with five.
The Mids fell to 4-5 in the Championship series. Navy was in the series for the first time since 2003, and last won the title in 2002.
Bucknell has won four of the six matchups against Navy in Patriot League Championship series history, which is the most-played matchup in the League. The Bison have a 10-6 advantage in their Patriot League Tournament history against Navy.
Buursma headlines the 11-player All-Tournament team. The team includes:
Patriot League All-Tournament Team
Bucknell senior catcher Shawn Hirsch
Bucknell senior third baseman Ed Rubbo
Bucknell sophomore second baseman Ben Allen
Bucknell senior pitcher/outfielder Jason Buursma
Navy sophomore third baseman Kendall Bolt
Navy senior first baseman Thomas Hamilton
Navy sophomore pitcher Oliver Drake
Army senior pitcher/outfielder Cole White
Army senior catcher Chris Simmons
Holy Cross sophomore pitcher Bobby Holmes
Holy Cross senior outfielder Gil Gomez
For more information and final box scores and recaps, visit the Patriot League Baseball Championship page.
Patriot League Championship Notes
Prior to this season, the Patriot League Tournament was a three-team event and only the Championship series was a best-of-three. Because of that, Bucknell is the first No. 4 seed to play in the field and the first to win the title.
Because of the new format, Army was the first No. 1 seed that did not play in the Championship series.
The No. 1 seed had won the last six Patriot League titles.
The last seed other than No. 1 to win the title was Bucknell in 2001, when the No. 2 seed Bison also swept two games at Navy.
The Bison hold a 2-1 advantage in Patriot League Championship series matchups against Navy in Annapolis, with the Mids winning in 1998 and Bucknell triumphing in 2001 and 2008.
That series also marked the last time that the road team won the Patriot League Championship before this weekend.
Bucknell finished with a 4-1 record in the Tournament, but was outscored, 29-24, in the five games. All four of the wins came by one run, while the loss was by a 12-3 score to Army.
Buursma improved to 9-3 on the season, breaking Bucknell's school wins record.
In addition to breaking the Patriot League single-season record for hits, Hamilton closes his career with 232 hits. He goes into the record books tied for second place in League history with Army's White.
