Friday, March 18
Winter Haven, Fla. - Chain of Lakes Stadium
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
4-10
5
vs
4
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Dartmouth
1-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Dartmouth
1
0
2
1
0
0
0
4
10
0
Lehigh
4
1
0
0
0
0
X
5
9
0
Photo by: Anthony Rinaldi
Balanced effort leads Lehigh to doubleheader sweep of Dartmouth
3/18/2016 8:32:00 PM | Baseball
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Sophomore Mark Washington hurled three scoreless innings of relief to help the Lehigh baseball team hold on for a 5-4 win over Dartmouth in the opener of a Friday doubleheader before an offensive explosion and strong pitching performance from freshman starter Ethan Frohman led the Mountain Hawks to a 15-7 win in the nightcap of a pair of seven-inning contests at Chain of Lakes Stadium. Lehigh hit six home runs in the nightcap victory and used a seven-run seventh inning to seal the win. The Mountain Hawks improve to 5-10 overall with the wins, while Dartmouth, a team that made an Ivy League Championship appearance a season ago, falls to 1-9.
"Washington really did a terrific job and turned the momentum for us," said head coach Sean Leary. "He really picked us up when we needed it. Ethan put together an outstanding battle as a freshman, especially in the middle innings when he got us some really big outs to keep the momentum on our side."
Washington kept Dartmouth off the board for the final three innings of the opener while giving up just two hits to earn the win. Frohman threw six strong innings in the day's second game to earn his first collegiate win and finish with a line of three runs, only two of which were earned, on five hits with two strikeouts.
Juniors Patrick Donnelly and Jacen Nalesnik each hit a pair of home runs in the day's second game, while senior Mackey Price smacked a grand slam. Price finished the day with six RBI, while Donnelly went 6-for-9 at the plate in the two games combined with five RBI and four runs scored. Nalesnik and junior Connor Donovan recorded four hits apiece in the two games. Sophomore James Bleming went a perfect 5-for-5 at the dish while also drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch to reach base in all seven of his trips to the plate. Senior Anthony Rinaldi also added a home run.
"Mackey Price came up with two huge hits for us, but was also outstanding defensively today," said Leary. "Nalesnik and Donnelly carried us offensively and had a wonderful day and it was great to see Bleming put together the day he did as well."
Dartmouth, the designated visiting team, got on the board right away in the opener as a one-out single was followed by a groundout that moved the runner to second and an RBI single from Kyle Holbrook to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Lehigh sent 10 to the plate in the bottom of the frame to quickly respond with a four spot. Nalesnik sent a leadoff single through the left side before senior Mike Garzillo drew a one-out walk. Donnelly followed with an RBI base hit to tie the game at 1-1 before Donovan sent a bases-clearing double down the left field line. Following a walk and a hit by pitch, Bleming singled home Donovan to give Lehigh a 4-1 lead and oust Dartmouth's starting pitcher Jackson Bubala.
The Mountain Hawks added another run in the second inning as junior David Young smoked a leadoff double that bounced off the top of the left field wall before taking third on a wild pitch. Garzillo followed with a sacrifice fly to left to give Lehigh a 5-1 lead.
The Big Green got two runs back in the top of the third thanks to a leadoff double and a pair of RBI singles to cut the Mountain Hawk advantage to 5-3. Lehigh senior starter Kevin Boswick got two quick outs in the fourth before a solo home run from Nick Ruppert narrowed Lehigh's lead to 5-4. The dinger was followed by a triple, but Rinaldi made a diving catch in left center on the next at bat to save a run and keep the Mountain Hawks ahead by one.
Lehigh wasn't able to add any insurance off Dartmouth relievers Jack Fossand and Chris Burkholder, but Washington and the strong Mountain Hawk defense took care of the rest. With the tying run on third and two outs, Washington got a big strikeout to end the game to lead Lehigh to the 5-4 win.
The Mountain Hawks served as the designated visiting team in the nightcap, also a seven-inning affair, and wasted no time as Nalesnik roped a leadoff home run to left center to quickly give Lehigh a 1-0 lead. Frohman kept Dartmouth scoreless until a Lehigh error led to an unearned second-inning Big Green run that tied the game at 1-1.
Donnelly was able to put Lehigh right back in front in the following frame as he sent a solo shot over the left field fence to put the score at 2-1. Following a scoreless bottom of the third, Dartmouth used four singles to score a pair of runs and jump ahead 3-2 in the fourth inning.
Lehigh immediately countered in the top of the fifth inning as Garzillo drew a one-out walk before Donnelly singled to left. A throwing error on a Donovan groundball then allowed Garzillo to score the tying run before a bases-clearing double off the bat of Price scored Donnelly and Donovan and gave Lehigh a 5-3 lead.
Frohman kept Lehigh's momentum going with a shutdown 1-2-3 inning on the mound in the top of the fifth before the Mountain Hawk bats began to break it open in the sixth. Singles from Bleming and Nalesnik were followed by Donnelly's second dinger of the game as he sent a shot over the left field fence to put Lehigh ahead 8-3. The Mountain Hawks added seven more in the following frame, which was highlighted by solo home runs from Nalesnik and Rinaldi and Price's grand slam to give the Mountain Hawks a dominant 15-3 lead.
Dartmouth got a few runs back in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't nearly enough as Lehigh was able to walk away with the 15-7 win. Big Green starter Clay Chatham was saddled with the loss after allowing the first five runs in five innings.
The Mountain Hawks will face UMass at 11 a.m. Saturday before wrapping up their Spring Break trip against Dartmouth at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Washington, Mark (2-1)
L: Bubala, Jackson (0-1)
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Batting:
2B: Shirley, Dustin 1 ; Ketchmark, Michael 1 ; Torgersen, Steffen 1
3B: Shirley, Dustin 1
HR: Ruppert, Nick 1
RBI: Roulis, Thomas 1 ; Holbrook, Kyle 1 ; Emery, Rob 1 ; Ruppert, Nick 1
SH: Roulis, Thomas 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shirley, Dustin 1 ; Socher, Ben 1 ; Roulis, Thomas 1 ; Ruppert, Nick 1
HBP: Ruppert, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: Young, David 1 ; Donovan, Connor 1
RBI: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Donovan, Connor 2 ; Bleming, James 1
SF: Garzillo, Mike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Young, David 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Donovan, Connor 1
SB: Bleming, James 1
HBP: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Rinaldi, Anthony 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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