Baseball Splits Sunday Doubleheader with Bucknell

Sunday, April 12

Lewisburg, Pa.

3:00 PM

Army West Point

16-17, 4-8

Bucknell

18-16, 4-8

Army West Point

Bucknell

Baseball Splits Sunday Doubleheader with Bucknell

April 12, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

April 12, 2015

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Army baseball team salvaged a split of Sunday's doubleheader and avoided a series sweep with a 10-8 victory over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon at Depew Field. Justin French pitched 5.1 innings in relief to earn his second win of the year.

The victory leveled Army with Bucknell in the Patriot League standings at 4-8, as the team improved to 16-17 in 2015.

Army plated two runs in five different innings and recorded 11 base hits, led by catcher Ben Smith's 3-for-3 day at the plate.

"The guys had a lot of two-out rallies, with big hits in clutch situations," head coach Matt Reid said. "Justin French was the man out of the bullpen, Mark McCants was outstanding and Alex Jensen played a really good game as well. It was a great team win for us and Coach DeCicco, Coach Cannon and Coach Borowicz did a tremendous job to help us win game four."

Second baseman Johnny Griffith put Army on the board first with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the second inning. Mark McCants (HBP) and Alex Jensen (walked) scored on the play as Army took a 2-0 lead.

The lead didn't last long, as Bucknell pushed three across in the home half of the second. Jon Mayer started the inning with a leadoff home run to left field, Danny Rafferty singled and Rob Krentzman doubled to set up a sacrifice fly for Powell. Two batters later, Wasikowski's sac fly made it 3-2 in favor of the Bison. Those runs were charged to Army starter Patrick Gardner, who was replaced by Justin French with one out in the frame.

The Black Knights regained the lead in their next trip to the plate when Smith doubled prior to McCants being hit by a pitch for the second time. They set the table for Jensen, who dropped a two-run single into the gap in left center that put Army in front 4-3. Bucknell starter Mike Castellani's outing was complete after three full innings, as he allowed four runs on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk in a no-decision.

After Bucknell tied the game in the bottom of the third, Army took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the fourth against Max Kra. The rally started with Jon Rosoff's two-out single, then Harold Earls followed with a base hit of his own. Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases for McCants, who did the damage with a two-run single to right.

Joe Ogren's fifth-inning RBI single made it 6-5, but Army countered again with a run-scoring single by Smith and a sacrifice fly off McCants' bat. The senior left fielder finished the day 2-for-2, drove in three runs and scored twice.

Trailing 8-5 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, Bucknell had two men on with two outs against French. Mayer roped a single to the gap in left center that scored a run, then Rafferty doubled home another run to pull the Bison within one at 8-7. Army dipped into its bullpen for freshman Matt Ball, who stranded both runners in scoring position by getting Krentzman to groundout to second base.

Griffith pitched the final two innings, sandwiched around Army's two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to collect his third save of the season.

Both of Army's ninth-inning runs were unearned, including Jensen's third RBI on a sacrifice fly that plated Greg Carter.

Army returns to the diamond at Doubleday Field on Tuesday evening when it hosts Manhattan at 6:30 p.m.

"We are excited to get back to West Point," Reid said of Army's upcoming 10-game homestand. "We are looking forward to some home cooked meals, but are also just excited to play the games and keep playing as long as possible."

Game Notes: Ben Smith registered his second three-hit game of the year ... Mark McCants posted his team-leading 12th multiple-hit game and extended his hitting streak to 11 games ... McCants has 10 games with at least two runs batted in ... Alex Jensen drove in three runs for the second time in 2015 ... Johnny Griffith recorded his second multiple-RBI game of the year.