With Ivy League play arriving in two short weeks, the Big Red (3-3) will get their first taste of Northeast weather during the 2016 season. Coach Dan Pepicelli’s group makes a short trip south to Lewisburg, Penn., to take on the Bucknell Bison in a four-game set this weekend. The game will be played over three days, the first being Friday, March 18th at 3:30 PM, a doubleheader (12 PM and 2:30 PM) on Saturday, and then the series finale on Sunday at noon.
The Big Red’s rotation will look similar after a successful three-game set against Wofford last week: Paul Balestrieri, Michael Byrne, and Tim Willittes will likely get the ball for the first three starts. This will be the first time this season Pepicelli’s squad will require a fourth starting pitcher, so look for one of sophomore southpaw Justin Lewis, junior Peter Lannoo or freshman Adam Saks to get the call.
At the plate, the man to watch will be junior first baseman Cole Rutherford, coming off a three homer weekend against Wofford which game him four for the season. Only six games into the new season, Rutherford is one third of the way to tying Chris Cruz’s single season home run record of 12.
The Bison are 6-9 on the season and are coming off a 1-4 trip to Florida where they lost their last game 6-4 to Dartmouth. Senior second baseman and outfielder Joe Ogren is off to a solid start to the year hitting .263 with one home run and seven runs batted in; Ogren impressed last year when the Bison took three out of four games against the Big Red.
The late winter weather will not be particularly pleasant this weekend, but it does not stand to impede any of the games. The temperature should range from the mid-30s to mid-50s in Lewisburg across the three days, but no rain is being called for.
Commentaires