Preview: Bucknell Bison at Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers

EMMITSBURG, Md. (Interstat) — The Bucknell Bison and Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers, two teams hovering near the .500 mark, will meet in a non-conference midweek matchup Tuesday evening at Straw Family Stadium.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. under cloudy skies with temperatures around 52 degrees.

Bucknell (9-11) enters having won two of three at Navy over the weekend, capped by a 3-1 victory Sunday. The Mountaineers (10-11) look to rebound after dropping a weekend series at home to Rider, including a 10-5 loss in the finale.

The Bison will rely on the arm of Brady Hoar, who is coming off a dominant performance. The right-hander threw seven no-hit innings with one earned run and two strikeouts in Sunday’s win over Navy. In his last four appearances, Hoar has allowed just two earned runs over 21 innings, striking out 17.

Mount Saint Mary’s will counter with a key bullpen piece in JB Manarchuck. The reliever has been effective lately, allowing no earned runs in four of his last five outings. He pitched three scoreless innings with one hit allowed against Rider on Sunday.

Bucknell’s offense recently has been sparked by designated hitter Garrett Mathias, who hit a two-run homer in Sunday’s win. For the Mountaineers, designated hitter Sam Meyer provided power in the same game with a two-run home run.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, this contest projects to be a tight one, with a predicted final score of Bucknell 6, Mount Saint Mary’s 5.

This game begins a busy stretch for both squads. Bucknell travels to Penn State on Wednesday before opening Patriot League play against Lehigh this weekend. Mount Saint Mary’s hits the road for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series at Sacred Heart starting Friday.

The teams are scheduled to meet again in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, on April 8.