Friday, May 29
Baton Rouge, La.
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
25-30
3
vs
10
LSU
49-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
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3
5
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LSU
0
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0
2
1
3
2
2
X
10
13
1
Photo by: Buddy Delahoussaye
Mountain Hawks fall short in regional opener against top-ranked host LSU, 10-3
5/29/2015 10:41:00 PM | Baseball
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Lehigh baseball team kept it close with the top-ranked team in the nation for the first half of the Baton Rouge Regional opener Friday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, but LSU's powerful offense scored in each of the final five innings to capture a 10-3 win over the Mountain Hawks. The fourth-seeded Mountain Hawks will now move on to face No. 3 Tulane Saturday at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT in an elimination game.
"I was very proud of our team today," said head coach Sean Leary. "Folks asked me what they were going to see from Lehigh baseball and I thought we saw 27 hard outs, guys sprinting on and off the field with energy and I thought we gave them a battle. We were fully aware of LSU's talent level and that we'd have our hands full. I hope people got a glimpse of what we're about today, and I think we have a real good shot tomorrow if we execute a few things better."
Lehigh senior starting pitcher Nick Macaione kept LSU, who holds the third-best team batting average in the nation, on its heels through the first four innings of the game, allowing just two runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Senior Patrick Walshe recorded an RBI for the Mountain Hawks, while senior Tim McKay went 2-for-3 at the plate. Junior Mike Garzillo, sophomore Patrick Donnelly and senior Connor Faust each scored a Lehigh run.
LSU starting pitcher Alden Cartwright retired the Mountain Hawks in order in the top of the first before Macaione threw a few warmup pitchers and a sudden downpour and lightning led to a two hour and 17 minute weather delay.
Once the weather cleared and the field dried up, Macaione took the mound in bottom one. A hit batsman was the only action for the Tigers in the bottom of the frame as the game went to the second scoreless. LSU's Austin Bain took the mound in the second and retired the Mountain Hawks in order. The Tigers threatened with two runners on and no outs in the bottom of the second following an error and a bunt single, but Macaione retired the next three batters as the game went into the third scoreless.
Lehigh put together a threat of its own in the third with two runners on, but a groundout ended the frame. The Tigers returned the favor in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runners in scoring position, but Macaione got a huge strikeout to end the inning and send the game to the fourth scoreless.
Garzillo ripped a double to left center to open the fourth before a hard hit grounder off the bat of sophomore Patrick Donnelly got by LSU's second baseman and Garzillo sprinted home to put Lehigh on the board. Following a strikeout, Walshe smacked a double down the left field line to score Donnelly from first and put the Mountain Hawks ahead 2-0 through three and a half.
The Tigers rallied in the bottom of the fourth as LSU recorded back-to-back singles to open the frame. Macaione got a foul out before a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. An RBI groundout followed to put LSU on the board before another wild pitch scored a runner from third and the Tigers knotted the game at two.
LSU reliever Hunter Newman kept Lehigh off the board in the top of the fifth before junior reliever Kevin Boswick took over for Macaione in the bottom of the inning. A hit batsman and a walk were followed by a double steal attempt, but McKay gunned down the Tiger trying to nab second to get the first out of the inning. An RBI single up the middle by Kade Scivicque followed to put LSU on top 3-2, but Boswick got the next two outs to limit the damage.
The Tigers put up a three spot in the bottom of the sixth to extend their lead to 6-2, but senior J.R. Edwards got the last two outs of the inning to limit the damage.
Faust was hit by a pitch to open the seventh inning before McKay sent a bloop single to right. Freshman James Bleming laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the Mountain Hawks into scoring position before a wild pitch allowed Faust to sprint home and narrow the Tiger lead to 6-3.
LSU answered in the seventh as a leadoff single was followed by a double. A sacrifice fly and RBI single followed to plate two more Tiger runs and extend LSU's lead to 8-3. Senior Jordan Smith took over on the mound for Lehigh to record the final two outs of the inning. The Tigers added two more runs in the eighth and Lehigh couldn't get anything else off of the LSU pitching staff as the Tigers claimed a 10-3 win.
The Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT against Tulane in an elimination game to be broadcast on ESPN3. Streaming audio will be available at Lehighsports.com with pregame coverage beginning at 2:45 p.m. CT.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hunter Newman (3-0)
L: Boswick, Kevin (3-4)
Batting:
2B: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Walshe, Patrick 1
RBI: Walshe, Patrick 1
SH: Bleming, James 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Faust, Connor 1
HBP: Faust, Connor 1
Batting:
2B: Andrew Stevenson 1 ; Jake Fraley 1 ; Chris Sciambra 1
RBI: Conner Hale 1 ; Kade Scivicque 2 ; Andrew Stevenson 1 ; Chris Chinea 1 ; Danny Zardon 1 ; Chris Sciambra 2
SF: Chris Chinea 1 ; Chris Sciambra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jared Foster 1 ; Alex Bregman 1 ; Conner Hale 1 ; Andrew Stevenson 2 ; Chris Chinea 2 ; Jake Fraley 2 ; Chris Sciambra 1
SB: Jared Foster 2 ; Alex Bregman 2 ; Conner Hale 1 ; Andrew Stevenson 2 ; Jake Fraley 1
CS: Conner Hale 1
HBP: Alex Bregman 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
SS
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RHP
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3B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
1B
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/ Baseball
LHP
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RHP
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