Sunday, April 27
Goodman Campus
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
22-20, 0
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Lafayette
12-26, 0
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7
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H
E
Lafayette
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Lehigh
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6
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Sunday split with Lafayette pushes Lehigh into No. 3 seed in PL Tournament
4/27/2014 6:18:00 PM | Baseball
| The Rivalry: Lehigh vs. Lafayette
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team captured a 5-1 win over Lafayette in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader following a tight 2-1 loss in the day's first game to secure a 3-1 series win over the Leopards on the Goodman Campus Baseball Field. The Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season with a 10-9 Patriot League record that is part of a 23-20 overall mark, while the Leopards fall to 5-13 in league play and 12-26 overall.
Based on Sunday's league results, the Mountain Hawks will hold the No. 3 seed heading into the Patriot League Tournament on May 10-11. Bucknell secured the top seed, while Army beat Navy twice on Sunday. Lehigh will head two second-seeded and two-time defending league champion Army for the best-of-three Patriot League semifinals May 10-11.
"Our pitching was outstanding the entire weekend," said Lehigh head coach Sean Leary. "We're excited about where this puts us heading into the playoffs because we feel like our team is getting deeper on the mound. I think we could be a little bit more consistent on the offensive side, but we were productive enough to find a way to win three games this weekend, which is the name of the game."
Lehigh continued to look strong on the mound, limiting the Leopards to just three runs in the day's 16 innings of action. Freshman Matt Kozemchak picked up his second-career win in the final game of the series, while senior Joey McNamara claimed his second save of the season. Sophomore Kevin Long was strong in the opener, allowing just two Lafayette runs on four hits in his complete-game effort, but ultimately suffered the loss in the pitchers' duel.
Junior Justin Pacchioli led Lehigh offensively once again with a 4-for-7 showing at the plate in the two games combined, two runs scored, three stolen bases and one RBI. Freshman Patrick Donnelly went 3-for-6 with an RBI and run scored.
"We didn't get the clutch hits when there were guys on base in the first game," said Leary. "But in the second game we bunted and we stole and we did all of the little things, which is who we are when we're not hitting. We found a way to win when we weren't clicking and our defense certainly helped us out with some outstanding plays today."
After struggling to get runs across in the day's first game, Lehigh got on the board right away in the nightcap, a nine-inning contest. Pacchioli sent a leadoff single through the left side before stealing second and advancing to third on a bad throw from Lafayette's catcher Austen Maggin. Junior John Elson stepped up to send a single through the left side to score Pacchioli as the Mountain Hawks took a 1-0 lead after one.
Following two scoreless frames, Elson drew a leadoff walk to open the fourth before stealing second. Donnelly ripped a base hit through the left side to score Elson and extend Lehigh's lead to 2-0. The Mountain Hawks added another in the sixth after senior Tyler Brong smoked a two-out double into the left field corner. Junior Connor Faust followed with single up the middle to score Brong as Lehigh's lead increased to 3-0.
Kozemchak was outstanding on the mound, allowing just three hits while striking out five in his 6.1 innings of work before McNamara took to the mound in the seventh with one out and a runner on first. The senior got Zach Gross to ground into a double play to end the threat.
Lehigh added two more insurance runs in the eighth as Pacchioli stole third and then ran home as Maggin sailed his throw into left field when trying to throw the speedy junior out at third. Sophomore Mike Garzillo later scored on a passed ball to give Lehigh a 5-0 advantage. McNamara allowed one Leopard run in the top of the ninth, but a groundout from Maggin secured the 5-1 win.
McNamara picked up his second save of the season and finished with a line of one run on four hits in 2.2 innings. Lafayette starter Trevor Houck suffered the loss.
Long kept the Leopards hitless through the first two innings of the day's first game, a seven-inning affair, before Brett Thompson sent a single up the middle to lead off the third. Following another base-hit and a wild pitch, Nick Murray recorded a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the game. Andrew Santomauro then hit a hard grounder to shortstop to score Matt Lawrence as the Leopards took a 2-0 lead.
Long only allowed one hit for the rest of the game, but Lafayette's starting pitcher Mitch Leeds was strong as well and kept Lehigh off the board. The Mountain Hawks tried to put a rally together in the seventh as Donnelly reached on an error with one out before advancing to second on a wild pitch and sneaking to third as the Leopards left it unoccupied between batters. Pacchioli sent a single up the middle to score Donnelly, but Lafayette's closer Connor McMahon recorded the final out of the contest to capture the 2-1 win.
Long finished with a line of two runs on four hits with four strikeouts in seven innings. Leeds captured the win while McMahon was credited with the save.
Lehigh will head to Army Monday for the final regular-season league game. Although it won't affect tournament seeds, Army will have the chance to win a share of the regular-season title. The two teams will also meet in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals in West Point May 10-11 for a best-of-three series. A doubleheader will be played on Saturday May 10 and the third game of the series will be played May 11 if necessary.
"These guys are going to be excited once we start to get back to work," said Leary. "We'll script out intersquads and possibly try to schedule another midweek game, so we'll prepare the way we need to in order to head into the playoffs ready."
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team captured a 5-1 win over Lafayette in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader following a tight 2-1 loss in the day's first game to secure a 3-1 series win over the Leopards on the Goodman Campus Baseball Field. The Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season with a 10-9 Patriot League record that is part of a 23-20 overall mark, while the Leopards fall to 5-13 in league play and 12-26 overall.
Based on Sunday's league results, the Mountain Hawks will hold the No. 3 seed heading into the Patriot League Tournament on May 10-11. Bucknell secured the top seed, while Army beat Navy twice on Sunday. Lehigh will head two second-seeded and two-time defending league champion Army for the best-of-three Patriot League semifinals May 10-11.
"Our pitching was outstanding the entire weekend," said Lehigh head coach Sean Leary. "We're excited about where this puts us heading into the playoffs because we feel like our team is getting deeper on the mound. I think we could be a little bit more consistent on the offensive side, but we were productive enough to find a way to win three games this weekend, which is the name of the game."
Lehigh continued to look strong on the mound, limiting the Leopards to just three runs in the day's 16 innings of action. Freshman Matt Kozemchak picked up his second-career win in the final game of the series, while senior Joey McNamara claimed his second save of the season. Sophomore Kevin Long was strong in the opener, allowing just two Lafayette runs on four hits in his complete-game effort, but ultimately suffered the loss in the pitchers' duel.
Junior Justin Pacchioli led Lehigh offensively once again with a 4-for-7 showing at the plate in the two games combined, two runs scored, three stolen bases and one RBI. Freshman Patrick Donnelly went 3-for-6 with an RBI and run scored.
"We didn't get the clutch hits when there were guys on base in the first game," said Leary. "But in the second game we bunted and we stole and we did all of the little things, which is who we are when we're not hitting. We found a way to win when we weren't clicking and our defense certainly helped us out with some outstanding plays today."
After struggling to get runs across in the day's first game, Lehigh got on the board right away in the nightcap, a nine-inning contest. Pacchioli sent a leadoff single through the left side before stealing second and advancing to third on a bad throw from Lafayette's catcher Austen Maggin. Junior John Elson stepped up to send a single through the left side to score Pacchioli as the Mountain Hawks took a 1-0 lead after one.
Following two scoreless frames, Elson drew a leadoff walk to open the fourth before stealing second. Donnelly ripped a base hit through the left side to score Elson and extend Lehigh's lead to 2-0. The Mountain Hawks added another in the sixth after senior Tyler Brong smoked a two-out double into the left field corner. Junior Connor Faust followed with single up the middle to score Brong as Lehigh's lead increased to 3-0.
Kozemchak was outstanding on the mound, allowing just three hits while striking out five in his 6.1 innings of work before McNamara took to the mound in the seventh with one out and a runner on first. The senior got Zach Gross to ground into a double play to end the threat.
Lehigh added two more insurance runs in the eighth as Pacchioli stole third and then ran home as Maggin sailed his throw into left field when trying to throw the speedy junior out at third. Sophomore Mike Garzillo later scored on a passed ball to give Lehigh a 5-0 advantage. McNamara allowed one Leopard run in the top of the ninth, but a groundout from Maggin secured the 5-1 win.
McNamara picked up his second save of the season and finished with a line of one run on four hits in 2.2 innings. Lafayette starter Trevor Houck suffered the loss.
Long kept the Leopards hitless through the first two innings of the day's first game, a seven-inning affair, before Brett Thompson sent a single up the middle to lead off the third. Following another base-hit and a wild pitch, Nick Murray recorded a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the game. Andrew Santomauro then hit a hard grounder to shortstop to score Matt Lawrence as the Leopards took a 2-0 lead.
Long only allowed one hit for the rest of the game, but Lafayette's starting pitcher Mitch Leeds was strong as well and kept Lehigh off the board. The Mountain Hawks tried to put a rally together in the seventh as Donnelly reached on an error with one out before advancing to second on a wild pitch and sneaking to third as the Leopards left it unoccupied between batters. Pacchioli sent a single up the middle to score Donnelly, but Lafayette's closer Connor McMahon recorded the final out of the contest to capture the 2-1 win.
Long finished with a line of two runs on four hits with four strikeouts in seven innings. Leeds captured the win while McMahon was credited with the save.
Lehigh will head to Army Monday for the final regular-season league game. Although it won't affect tournament seeds, Army will have the chance to win a share of the regular-season title. The two teams will also meet in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals in West Point May 10-11 for a best-of-three series. A doubleheader will be played on Saturday May 10 and the third game of the series will be played May 11 if necessary.
"These guys are going to be excited once we start to get back to work," said Leary. "We'll script out intersquads and possibly try to schedule another midweek game, so we'll prepare the way we need to in order to head into the playoffs ready."
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leeds, Mitch (1-4)
L: Long, Kevin (4-3)
S: McMahon, Connor (3)
Batting:
RBI: Santomauro, Andrew 1 ; Murray, Nick 1
SF: Murray, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Brett 1 ; Lawrence, Matt 1
SB: Thompson, Brett 1
CS: Santomauro, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Abeln, Joe 1
RBI: Pacchioli, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Donnelly, Patrick 1
CS: Donnelly, Patrick 1
Game Leaders
AB
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RBI
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4
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1
RBI
0
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