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HAMILTON – League-leading Bucknell lived up to its record to deal Colgate a pair of close losses in a Saturday doubleheader at Eaton Street Field. The Bison held on in the opener to claim a 6-5 victory before taking the nightcap 6-3.
 
Sophomore Virginia Irby led the Colgate bats, going 3-for-5 with three walks and two runs scored in the two games combined. Senior Holly Geranen smacked four hits on the day, while sophomore Jordan Miller tallied four RBI.
 
The Bison were able to take an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first of the day's opener thanks to a two-run single off the bat of Lauren Hadley. The Raiders answered right back in the bottom of the frame as hits from Irby and Geranen put runners on the corners. Miller then stepped up as she smoked a ball over the right field fence with the wind blowing in for a three-run home run that put the Raiders up 3-2 through one inning.
 
Bucknell jumped back in front in the following frame as a routine fly ball got lost in the sun and allowed two Bison runners to cross the plate. Bucknell then added a run off a sacrifice fly in the third to take a 5-3 advantage.
 
An RBI bloop single from Geranen scored Irby in the bottom of the frame as Colgate made it a one-run game once again at 5-4. The Raiders stayed within one until another ball got lost in the sun in the top of the fifth, which allowed Bucknell to extend its lead to 6-4.
 
Senior Kyle Griswold kept the Bison off the board the rest of the way to keep Colgate within striking distance. The Raiders tapped into some seventh-inning magic to make it interesting in the final frame.
 
Sophomore Blake Brackett led off the frame by blooping a hit over the third baseman's head before Irby followed by poking a single to right. Junior Meghan Romero then came up with a sacrifice fly to left to put the score at 6-5. Bucknell pitcher Raeanne Geffert got the final two outs, however, as the Bison held on for the 6-5 win.
 
After a scoreless first inning of the nightcap, the Bison snagged a 1-0 edge in the second thanks to a leadoff solo home run off the bat of Taylor Wolfgang. The Raiders had an answer right away in the bottom of the frame thanks to a two-out rally. Brackett got it started with a single before Irby drew a walk and Romero came through with an RBI single to center to knot the score at 1-1 through two.
 
The teams traded zeros in the next two frames before Bucknell put up two runs in both the fifth and sixth frames. Colgate used an RBI single from Miller in the fifth to plate one, but the Bison held a 5-2 lead through five and a half.
 
Back-to-back doubles from junior Lauren La Terra and first-year Christiana Cottrell opened the bottom of the sixth to pull the Raiders within 5-3, but Bucknell added another single run in the sixth and held on to win 6-3.
 
BOTTOM LINES

• Bucknell 6, Colgate 5
• Bucknell 6, Colgate 3

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• The Bison improve their league-leading Patriot League win total to 11-3. Bucknell is now 22-19-1 overall.
• Colgate drops to 3-8 in league action and 8-27 on the season.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• Colgate got 10 hits off Geffert in the first game, two more than any other team this season.
• Miller's three-run dinger in the first inning of the opener marked her third home run in the last five games.
• Irby went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the opener, marking a season-high with three hits in a game.
• Griswold surrendered just one earned run on four hits with one strikeout in 4.0 strong innings of relief work in the opener.
• La Terra's double in the bottom of the sixth inning of the nightcap marked her first hit of the season.
• The teams finished the day with 19 hits apiece.

 
UP NEXT

• Colgate and Bucknell wrap up their three-game weekend series with a single game Sunday.
• First pitch is slated for noon at Eaton Street Field.