DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Niagara baseball team made a late push in the ninth inning but it wasn’t enough as the Purple Eagles dropped their matchup against the Bucknell Bisons 8-4 on Saturday night.
Niagara (1-1) entered the top of the ninth inning with Bucknell (1-1) leading 8-1, but would get a rally started as
Ryan McCauley singled to right field for his second hit of the game.
Joel Klock reached on a fielder’s choice and
Jon Wilson was hit by a pitch to load the basses with one out.
Jeff Calhoon brought in two runs with a single to left to cut the lead to five. Next batter to the plate was
Anthony Ruggiero who brought Wilson around to score with a single to right. That was as far as the rally would go as the Bisons came away with an 8-4 victory.
The Purple Eagles struggled offensively early as they ran into a pitcher who was on the top of his game. Bucknell’s Dan Weigel gave up one unearned run over seven innings while striking out eight for the win.
“We ran into the buzz saw on the mound tonight against Weigel,” head coach
Rob McCoy said. “He did a great job keeping up off balance at the plate.”
McCauley led the way on offense for the second game in-a-row, going 2-for-3 at the plate and scoring two of Niagara’s four runs.
Kody Kasper received the loss after giving up seven runs on the night. Niagara’s bullpen was called upon early but kept the team in the game, giving up one run over four innings.
“We need to get a better start on the mound and sure some things up defensively, but I like what I’m seeing out of these guys early on,” McCoy said.
Sunday’s game against LaSalle has been canceled due to an impending storm so the Purple Eagles will be back in action next Friday at 2 p.m. when they travel to start a three-game series against the Richmond Spiders.
