Baseball Hosts Bucknell for Patriot League Semifinal Series

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point Baseball hosts the Bucknell Bison this weekend for the best-of-three Patriot League Baseball Tournament semifinals.

First pitch of Game 1 Saturday is set for 1:05 p.m. After Bucknell heads home Sunday for its graduation, the series resumes at West Point Monday, with a 1:05 p.m. Game 2 start. Game 3, if necessarily, will start 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.

All games will be at Doubleday Field, and on ESPN+.

Notes and Storylines

» By beating Lehigh in Game 1 of last Saturday's doubleheader, Army secured the Patriot League Regular Season title, and the No. 1 seed throughout the league tournament.

2024 marks the program's third consecutive regular season league crown, and the fourth straight regular season title in either conference or division (Army won the Patriot League North Division title in 2021).

» Army went 4-1 on the regular season against Bucknell. They swept the Bison in Lewisburg March 25, before taking two of three at home April 20-21.

The semifinal matchup is a rematch of last season's Patriot League Championship series, which Army won two games to zero in the best-of-three set. Before the season, the Bison were picked to finish second in the league standings, behind Army.

» Army won each of its five conference season series in the regular season, and was unbeaten across all two, three and four game series. The Black Knights played each league foe five times, sans Lafayette, with the final game in that series called off due to weather.

» Justin Lehman has enjoyed a breakout season on both the mound and at the plate, and was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Year.

Having pitched in 10 games and started in nine, Lehman's 1.44 ERA and 1.01 WHIP are both best in the Patriot League, with his ERA also slotting second-best nationally.

In March 24's doubleheader Game 2 win at Navy, the native of Fort Mill, S.C. earned the win with 6.1 innings pitched, three strikeouts and just one run allowed. He then moved to first base for the remainder of the matchup and drove in a run in the eighth inning.

On April 26 against Navy at home, Lehman gave up just three hits and induced a trio of double plays in the first three innings, tossing a complete-game, nine-inning, 129-pitch shutout. He went 21 batters without allowing a hit in the first through eighth innings, and had five innings where he sat the Midshipmen down in order.

Seven of Lehman's starts have been five frames or longer, with five starts of six-plus innings, and three seven-plus inning starts. The junior has also pitched two of Army's complete games in 2024.

» Seven Black Knights made the All-League First or Second team.

Five players made the first team, led by Lehman. Army claimed two of the three spots on the first team reserved for starting pitchers, with Matthew Ronnebaum also earning first team honors.

Andrew Berg made the first team as a relief pitcher, with brother Derek Berg making the roster as a catcher. William Parker rounded out the first team selections for Army.

Sam Ruta and Braden Golinski each made the second team.

» Ronnebaum earned the final Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award in the regular season. With Army looking to secure the conference regular season title, Ronnebaum took a no-hitter into the final inning of the seven-inning game against Lehigh on Saturday, completing the complete-game shutout. The Overland Park, Kan. native tied a career-high with nine strikeouts as Army won 3-0. He retired 17 straight batters over a stretch throughout the game. It was Ronnebaum's second complete game of the year, and the team's fourth.

» RHP Tanner Gresham made his first appearance in 372 days on April 27 against Navy, after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. The 2023 Patriot League Pitcher of the Year had a scoreless ninth inning in his first appearance, with one strikeout. Gresham returned May 4 to throw an inning late in Saturday's doubleheader against Lehigh.

» At the conclusion of regular season Patriot League play, Army has:
- Allowed six or fewer runs in all but two league matchups, and three or fewer runs in 14 games across that stretch.
- A league-leading team ERA of 4.36, and 3.26 across conference games.
- A conference-best .243 opponent batting average, and has allowed fewer runs (219) than any other league foe.
- Had its starting pitcher go five innings or longer in all but five league contests.

» Army leads the Patriot League in home runs across all games (53) and league games (29) and batting average in league games (.301).

» D1 Baseball released its latest NCAA Tournament projection May 8, with Army heading to the Charlottesville Regional for the second consecutive year, facing Virginia, San Diego and Vanderbilt.

Baseball America's NCAA Tournament projected field of 64 also released May 8 has the Black Knights going to Clemson's bracket, to be paired with host Clemson, UNC-Wilmington and UNC-Greensboro.

» Army led the Patriot League in per-game attendance during the regular season.

Behind Enemy Lines

» Bucknell finished the regular season 21-22 overall and 12-13 in the Patriot League, slotting fourth in the regular season standings.

» The Bison led the league in overall batting average during the regular season (.289), and had 40 home runs, second-most behind Army.

» The Pennsylvania club boasts Patriot League Player of the Year Sean Keys, who led the league during the regular season in batting average (.416) and is 10^th nationally in the category. The junior infielder also boasts 13 home runs this year.

» Michael Trommer follows in batting average at .360.

» Bucknell won each of its last four games in the regular season, winning seven of its past nine. The only two losses across that stretch are to Army. The Bison—who enjoyed last week off—haven't lost to a team other than Army since April 13.

Next Up

The winner of Army vs. Bucknell will play the winner of the opposite semifinal series between Navy and Holy Cross, played this weekend in Annapolis.

The highest remaining seed will host next weekend's best-of-three Patriot League Championship series, to be played at Doubleday Field should Army be participating.

Follow the Black Knights

Follow Army Baseball on X @ArmyWP_Baseball and on Instagram @armywp_baseball. Fans can also like Army West Point Athletics on Facebook and learn more about baseball and other programs at goarmywestpoint.com.

Baseball Hosts Bucknell for Patriot League Semifinal Series

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Players Mentioned

Andrew Berg

Derek Berg

Braden Golinski

Tanner Gresham

Justin Lehman

William Parker

Matthew Ronnebaum

Sam Ruta

Army West Point Athletics