May 30, 2008
From Bucknell Athletic Communications
Tallahassee, Fla. - In the biggest win in Bucknell and Patriot League baseball history, senior Mathew Wilson pitched a complete-game, six-hit shutout against hard-hitting Florida State, and the Bison pulled off a 7-0 upset on opening night of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Dick Howser Stadium.
Dane Grandizio went 4-for-5 to lead the offense, and the Bison scored three times in the second inning, another in the third and three more in the fourth. Wilson took it from there, eclipsing the school record with his fifth career shutout.
The Seminoles, the No. 1 seed in the Tallahassee Regional and the No. 4 national seed, came in with a 48-9 record and a .350 team batting average.
Earlier in the day, No. 3 Tulane defeated No. 2 Florida, meaning the Bison and Green Wave will meet in a winner's bracket game Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Dick Howser Stadium.
The victory was the first NCAA Tournament win for Bucknell, which is making its fourth all-time NCAA appearance. It was the fourth all-time victory for a Patriot League squad, and first since Army defeated South Alabama in Tallahassee in 2005. But it was the first time that a Patriot League team won its opening game at an NCAA regional, making the Bison the first Patriot League team to advance to the winner's bracket on the second day of the regional.
The Bison moved to 30-22-2 on the season, reaching the 30-wins plateau for the third time in program history. The Seminoles, who entered the weekend ranked in the top-three of five national collegiate baseball polls, suffered just their 10th loss of the year, their first shutout, and are now 48-10. Florida State also saw their streak of 15 straight opening round NCAA Regional wins come to an end, a stretch that dated back to 1992.
After junior Dane Grandizio logged the first hit of the game with a single up the middle in the top of the first, Bucknell managed to plate three runs in the second. Sophomore Andrew Brouse walked, moved to second on an error and scored on a single to right center by senior Shawn Hirsch for the first run of the game. Sophomore Ben Yoder followed up with a hit down the right field line that moved Hirsch to third, setting up an RBI groundout by senior Ed Rubbo. Sophomore Ben Allen advanced Yoder to third with a single to left and Grandizio brought him in with an infield hit to bring the score to 3-0.
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The Bison added a fourth run the following inning. Senior Jason Buursma singled and went to third on a double down the right field line by classmate Austin Turban. After Turban's hit chased Florida State starter Geoff Parker from the game, Yoder knocked in Buursma with a single to the shortstop off reliever Bo O'Dell. Parker surrendered four runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work and took the loss (6-2).
Managing to score for a third straight frame, Bucknell extended its lead to 7-0 with three in the fourth. Allen and Grandizio started things off with back-to-back singles, while Buursma brought home Allen with a hard-hit double off the left field fence. With one out, Grandizio came home on a sacrifice fly by Turban and Hirsch capped off the inning with an RBI single to left that scored Buursma.
The Seminoles threatened to score in the bottom of the fifth as Tommy Oravetz led off with a double and moved to third with less than two outs. However, Wilson worked out of the inning by striking out Tyler Holt and inducing a weak comebacker to the mound off the bat of Jason Stidham.
By a 13-6 margin, the Orange and Blue out-hit Florida State, who entered the contest leading the nation with a .350 batting average. The Bison were led by Grandizio at the plate with a 4-for-5 performance. Allen finished 2-for-5, Buursma was 2-for-4, Hirsch went 2-for-4 and Yoder batted 3-for-2.
Wilson tossed his first nine-inning complete-game shutout, his fifth overall shutout of his career to break the Bucknell record, and picked up the win (6-1), logging two walks and three strikeouts.
