BETHLEHEM, PA (5/7/09) – Sophomore Jesse Snyder went 3-for-3 with two doubles and one triple to lead third-seeded Bucknell (19-30) to a 7-3 win over second seeded Colgate (25-17) in the opening round of the 2009 Patriot League Tournament at Lehigh’s Kaufman Field Thursday afternoon.
Colgate falls into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament, and will play Lafayette on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The Leopards lost their opening round game with top-seeded Lehigh, 1-0. Lehigh and Bucknell will play at 11 a.m.
Bucknell scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning for a 2-0 lead. With one out, Snyder doubled to right centerfield, and later came home on a Colgate throwing error. Lauren Fry, who reached on the Colgate error, scored on a RBI ground out by Elyse Colmenero.
The Bison increased their lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning on a two-run triple by Snyder, scoring Kristin Frick and Ashley Carlson, who had back-to-back singles.
The Raiders got back into the contest with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Amanda Eccleston (Roseville, CA) and Stephanie Hartquist (Homer, NY) had RBI doubles and pinch hitter Nicole Siedhof (Canton, PA) followed with a RBI single.
Bucknell closed out the scoring with three runs in the seventh inning. Cassie Lloyd drove in one run, and Colmenero had a two-run single.
Jesse McCarrick (11-5) (Oak Hill, VA) was the losing pitcher for the Raiders. She allowed 11 hits, while walking one and striking out one in a complete game effort. Erin Gomez (Lawrenceville, NJ), Eccleston and Hartquist had two hits apiece for Colgate.
(Boxscore)