Saturday, April 2
Lewisburg, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
9-15, 0-1
5
at
7
Bucknell
10-16, 1-0
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2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
5
10
2
Bucknell
1
1
1
3
1
0
X
7
8
1
Lehigh powers past Bucknell 10-1 in nightcap to earn doubleheader split
4/2/2016 6:11:00 PM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team used a balanced offensive attack and strong pitching performances from sophomores Sam Ashey and Mark Washington to grab a 10-1 victory in game two of a Saturday twinbill in the Patriot League opener at Bucknell. The win helped Lehigh bounce back from a 7-5 loss in the day's opener. The Mountain Hawk bats smacked 13 extra-base hits in the two games combined led by junior Connor Donovan's three home runs, one of which was a grand slam, and six RBI. Lehigh moves to 10-15 overall with the Saturday split, while Bucknell sits at 10-17.
"We had good at bats from the second half of the first game on and it was a really productive day for our offense overall," said head coach Sean Leary. "We were squaring the ball up well and Donovan and Garzillo certainly led that attack. The wind was blowing straight out today, so for Sam Ashey to give up only one run in seven innings is really impressive. He was changing speeds well and really turned the momentum for us and help set a tone in game two."
Donovan's three home runs moved his season total to five, while the junior also added a double and went 5-for-9 with six RBI in the Saturday doubleheader. Senior Mike Garzillo also recorded four extra-base hits, all of which came in the 10-1 nightcap win, and went 6-for-9 at the dish with four RBI. Junior John Scarr hit 4-for-8 with a double and triple, while senior Anthony Rinaldi also knocked two doubles. A total of seven Mountain Hawks knocked in runs.
Ashey earned the victory on the mound in the 10-1 win as he gave up just one run on seven hits with three strikeouts in seven strong innings. Washington kept the Bison hitless for the final two innings of the game.
Garzillo got game two, a full nine-inning affair, started with a two-out solo home run to give Lehigh a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Bucknell tied the game in the bottom of the frame thanks to a leadoff triple that was followed by an RBI single from Danny Rafferty, but Ashey got a strikeout and double play to end the inning.
The Mountain Hawks jumped back in front in the second inning as Donovan sent a one-out solo shot to center field before doubles from Scarr and Rinaldi gave the Mountain Hawks a 3-1 advantage. Following a scoreless third inning, Donovan opened the fourth with his third home run of the day, this one over the left field fence. The dinger was followed by a triple from Scarr and an RBI single from senior Mackey Price that extended Lehigh's lead to 5-1.
Following a scoreless fifth, sophomore James Bleming took first on a two-out Bucknell error before stealing second in the top of the sixth. Garzillo then doubled Bleming home to move the score to 6-1. Ashey didn't allow a runner to get past second base after the first inning as the Bison were only able to scatter five hits through the final six innings of Ashey's strong seven-inning outing.
Lehigh put up another crooked number in the eighth inning as Price was hit by a pitch and Rinaldi followed with a double before junior Jacen Nalesnik knocked an RBI base hit to right. A batter later, Garzillo smoked a two-run triple to right center, his fourth extra-base hit of the game, before junior David Young sent an RBI single to left center to extend Lehigh's lead to 10-1.
Washington took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired all six batters he faced to secure the 10-1 win for the Mountain Hawks. Bucknell starter Mike Castellani suffered the loss.
The Bison got on the board right away in the bottom of the first in the day's first game, a seven-inning contest, as a two-out triple from Joe Ogren was followed by an RBI double from Spencer Stokes to take a 1-0 lead. Bucknell added a run in the following frame thanks to a walk, double and RBI groundout from Luke Johnson before the Bison were able to plate an unearned run in the third inning and take a 3-0 lead through three frames.
Lehigh was able to put together several two-out rallies and scatter six hits through the first five innings against Bucknell starter Andrew Andreychik, but the Mountain Hawks weren't able to cross the plate. The Bison plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a bases-clearing triple from Stokes before adding another run in the fifth to jump ahead 7-0.
The Mountain Hawks put together a seventh-inning rally as Bleming drew a walk before Garzillo sent a base hit to center and junior Patrick Donnelly followed with an RBI single to put Lehigh on the board. Young was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Donovan sent a two-out grand slam home run over the right field fence to pull the Mountain Hawks within 7-5. Bucknell's Jeff Gottesman came out of the bullpen to record the final out as the Bison held off the rallying Mountain Hawks for a 7-5 win.
Lehigh senior starter Kevin Long suffered the loss and finished with a line of seven runs, six of which were earned, on six hits in 4.1 innings. Andreychik picked up the win, while Gottesman was credited with a save.
Lehigh and Bucknell wrap up their four game series Sunday with a doubleheader set for 1 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Andreychik (2-3)
L: Long, Kevin (0-3)
S: Gottesman (1)
Batting:
2B: Donovan, Connor 1 ; Price, Mackey 1
HR: Donovan, Connor 1
RBI: Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Donovan, Connor 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Bleming, James 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Young, David 1 ; Donovan, Connor 1
HBP: Young, David 1
Batting:
2B: Stokes 1 ; Korchak 1
3B: Ogren 1 ; Stokes 1
RBI: Smith 1 ; Stokes 4 ; Mayer 1 ; Johnson 1
SH: Pennington 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith 1 ; Ogren 3 ; Clark, S. 1 ; Johnson 2
SB: Clark, S. 1 ; Johnson 1 ; Pennington 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF/IF
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/ Baseball2B
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RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
SS
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OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
P/IF
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