PETERSBURG, Va. – The Niagara Purple Eagles fell in both games of their doubleheader against the Bucknell Bison on Saturday afternoon despite taking the opening lead in both contests.
 
"Tough day for us today," head coach Rob McCoy said. "We played well for 14 of the 16 innings. The problem is those two bad innings hurt us pretty bad."
 
Game One
Niagara (3-6) got the start it wanted with a two-run first inning in the first game of the twin billing. Niagara batters showcased discipline at the plate to walk the bases loaded and bring in the first run of the game before Pavel Chavez-Rusova brought in the second run with a groundout to second.
 
The pitching duel started in the bottom half of the first with Jordan Schwartz's first of four no-hit innings. The junior did not allow a hit, which was a single, until the fourth and responded with a no-hit fifth inning. Bucknell (3-4) was able to take the lead back in the bottom of the sixth with runs on a pair of singles, a triple, and a fielder's choice to take the 4-2 lead.
 
Niagara was held off the board in the seventh as the Bison took game one, 4-2.
 
Schwartz finished the game with giving up four runs on six hits with eight strikeouts through six innings of work. He didn't issue a single walk.
 
Game Two
Niagara got another strong start in game two, this time from freshman Liam Stroud. He opened the game with four shutout innings while the Purple Eagles took a 1-0 lead with a RBI from Greg Rodgers in the fourth.
 
Bucknell tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth but Stroud blanked them again in the sixth. He finished the game with the one run allowed over six innings and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6/1.
 
Anthony Firenzi gave NU the lead back in the top of the seventh inning with a RBI triple that brought Robert Hansen around to score. The Bison, however, scored eight runs over the next two innings and won game two by a final score of 9-2.

"Our bullpen and our offense need to do better tomorrow," McCoy said. "We aren't getting timely pitching or timely hitting. Tomorrow's another day."
 
These two teams play another doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.