LEWISBURG -- The first two games of the Patriot League semifinals between top-seeded Bucknell and No. 4 Lafayette were complete opposites. Unfortunately for the Bison, Sunday's series finale was more like the nightcap than the opener.
In game one Saturday, Bucknell edged Lafayette by two runs in a back-and-fourth contest. The nightcap followed with the Leopards jumping out to a quick lead, watching Bucknell rally before Lafayette pulled away to force a deciding game Sunday in Lewisburg.
Sunday, with a trip to the Patriot League final on the line, Lafayette carried its potent offense over from Saturday, banging out 18 hits en route to a 10-2 win over Bucknell.
The Leopards (24-27) will meet No. 2 Army in next week's best-of-three championship series at West Point. The Bison, the defending Patriot League champs, end the season at 22-25.
After falling behind 7-0 through the first six innings, the Bucknell bats seemed to come to life after Ben Yoder drew a six-pitch walk and Doug Shribman singled to center field to give the Bison their first run of the day. Bucknell's defense then took the field and held Lafayette scoreless for the first time in any inning of the game.
Although the Bison couldn't get any runs in the seventh they looked to be getting back on track after holding the Leopard's offense down and getting their first run of the day in the sixth.
Everything changed in the top of the eighth as the Leopards connected for five hits including a two-run homer by Matt Hall that restored the Leopards' momentum and put the Bison in a hole they could not recover from.
"At 7-1, I wasn't sitting back and relaxing," Lafayette coach Jim Kinney said. "Even at 9-1 I wasn't, but the home run helped. It was a big play for us."
The Bison opened every inning behind the eight ball with Lafayette putting the leadoff batter on in six of nine at-bats. By contrast, Bucknell's leadoff batters only reached base safely only once.
"That's a huge momentum swing for Lafayette," Bucknell coach Gene Depew said. "When you get that leadoff hitter on, especially for their kind of game where they like to run, bunt-and-run, and hit-and-run, it gives them so many options and puts a lot of pressure on our defense to defend all that stuff."
Along with the Leopards outstanding day at the plate, senior pitcher Ryan Hanna put together a six-inning, one-run performance from the mound. After throwing three innings in Saturday's early game, Hanna toed the rubber to fan seven batters while only walking one.
"It's very important to pitch with the lead, especially early," Hanna said. "When you have the lead you can attack the hitters and keep them off-balance to get the out later in the count. It was a must-win game. I was just trying to take it one inning at a time an see how far it went."
Bucknell's second run came in the bottom of the eighth when Yoder singled home Dane Grandizio after he drew a four-pitch walk.
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