Saturday, May 14
Worcester, Mass.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
24-28
4
at
9
No. 2 Holy Cross
28-24
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
4
9
1
Holy Cross
0
0
3
0
0
3
2
1
X
9
15
2
Lehigh forces decisive game three with 18-5 win in nightcap of Saturday Semifinal doubleheader
5/14/2016 8:01:00 PM | Baseball
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lehigh baseball team's bats came to life to lead the Mountain Hawks to an 18-5 win in game two of the Patriot League Semifinals as Lehigh rebounded from a 9-4 loss in the opener to force a decisive game three. Junior Jacen Nalesnik recorded seven RBI, a new Patriot League Tournament single game record, in the game two victory while the Mountain Hawks hit five home runs. The winner of Sunday's 1 p.m. game three will advance to next weekend's Patriot League Championship.
"We told the team in between games that we wanted them to relax and play the way that they're capable of," said head coach Sean Leary. "We had an early clutch hit from Pat Donnelly and then got a few more clutch hits before everyone started relaxing and feeling really good at the plate. Tacking on runs gave Mark Washington the comfort to go out there and finish the game really well for us, so it was awesome to see guys have big games in do-or-die situations,
"Tomorrow we need to come out and do the same thing we did in game two today," continued Leary. "We want them to go out there and play, have fun and not put too much pressure on themselves. We did a great job of that in the second game today."
Nalesnik had a monster day, going 6-for-9 at the plate in the two games combined with nine RBI due in part to a pair of three-run home runs. Senior Mackey Price scored a team-best five runs while knocking three hits. Junior John Scarr hit a pair of home runs, while senior Mike Garzillo also added one of his own. Scarr recorded three RBI on the day, while Garzillo and juniors David Young and Patrick Donnelly added two apiece. Sophomore Mark Washington earned the win on the mound in the game two victory after throwing 5.2 one-run frames with six strikeouts to move his season-long record to 6-1.
Game two starter sophomore Peter Moore hurled a scoreless top of the first, with Lehigh serving as the designated home team. Lehigh got the scoring started right away as Nalesnik roped a leadoff double to center before moving to third on a fly ball from sophomore James Bleming. Garzillo drew a walk before Donnelly delivered a two-run double to center. Young then knocked him in with a base hit to left to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-0 lead through one inning.
The Crusaders were able to tie the game in the top of the second inning on a three-run home run from Nick Lovullo. Lehigh jumped right back on top in the bottom of the frame as Price knocked a leadoff infield single before moving to second on a Bonshak sacrifice bunt and taking third on a Nalesnik groundout. The Holy Cross shortstop couldn't handle a hard-hit Bleming grounder as Price was able to run home and put Lehigh up 4-3 through two innings.
Moore fired a scoreless top of the third before Lehigh used a five-run bottom of the third to break the game open. Donnelly opened the inning with a triple before Young smoked an RBI double. A pair of flyouts followed, but Price was able to draw a two-out walk before Bonshak singled and Nalesnik sent a three-run home run to dead center field to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 9-3.
The Crusaders got a run back in the top of the fourth, but a two-run home run from Scarr and an RBI single from Nalesnik added three more runs for Lehigh to put the Mountain Hawk advantage at 12-4 through four frames.
Washington kept the Crusaders off the board for the next four innings before a Garzillo two-run home run in the seventh and Nalesnik's second three-run dinger of the day built Lehigh's lead up to 18-4. Holy Cross got one run in the top of the ninth, but Washington struck out the final two Crusaders to secure the 18-5 victory.
Washington surrendered just four hits in his 5.2-inning outing. Holy Cross starter Phil Reece suffered the loss.
Following a scoreless first inning in the series opener, Lehigh was able to strike first as Young roped a leadoff double to deep center before Price followed with a two-out single to right center to give the Mountain Hawks an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Senior starter Kevin Long allowed just one hit through the first two innings until the Crusaders used five hits that included an RBI single Lovullo and two-run base hit from Anthony Critelli to plate three runs in the bottom of the third and take a 3-1 lead through three frames.
The Mountain Hawks answered right back in the top of the fourth as senior Anthony Rinaldi sent a one-out solo home run over the right field fence to pull Lehigh within 3-2, but that would be as close as the Mountain Hawks were able to get.
Both teams were kept off the board in the fifth before Holy Cross put together another three-run inning in the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff double was followed by a wild pitch and RBI single from Thomas Russo to put the Holy Cross lead at 4-2 before senior Kevin Boswick took the mound in relief. The Crusaders then used an RBI double to add another before an unearned run put the score at 6-2 through six.
Holy Cross plated three more runs through the next two innings to extend its lead to 9-2. Lehigh was able to put together a rally in the top of the ninth as Price was hit by a pitch and Bonshak followed with a single to left. Nalesnik then knocked the two runners in with a hit to left that was followed by a fielding error. Holy Cross then got the next three outs to secure a 9-4 game-one victory.
Holy Cross first team All-League starting pitcher Brendan King earned the win after giving up three earned runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts in eight full innings of work. Long finished with a line of five runs on eight hits in 5.1 frames.
Lehigh and Holy Cross will play the decisive game three Sunday at 1 p.m. at Fitton Field. The winner will advance to next weekend's Patriot League Championship series against the victor of Navy/Bucknell. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Washington, Mark (6-1)
L: Phil Reese (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Shane Sandoval 1 ; Bill Schlich 1 ; Travis Cloney 1 ; Bobby Indeglia 1
HR: Nick Lovullo 1
RBI: Nick Lovullo 3 ; Shane Sandoval 1 ; Bobby Indeglia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Lovullo 1 ; Jon Escobar 1 ; Travis Cloney 2 ; Bobby Indeglia 1
Batting:
2B: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Bleming, James 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Young, David 1
3B: Donnelly, Patrick 1
HR: Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Scarr, John 2
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 7 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2 ; Young, David 2 ; Scarr, John 3 ; Bonshak, Ryan 1
SH: Bonshak, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nalesnik, Jacen 3 ; Bleming, James 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2 ; Young, David 2 ; Scarr, John 2 ; Price, Mackey 4 ; Bonshak, Ryan 2
Game Leaders
AB
6
R
3
H
4
RBI
7
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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2B
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RHP
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LHP
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SS
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RHP
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