Lehigh University
Evansville
Evansville's ninth inning rally ends Lehigh's season
6/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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For the second straight day, Lehigh put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Sophomore centerfielder Joe Ercolano led off with a single to left field, advanced to second on a balk and then scored on a double to left center by senior Matt Geiger. An error by
The Mountain Hawks added to their lead in the fourth inning with some textbook fundamental baseball. Senior Mike Sandonato led off with a double and then moved to third on a groundout by Geoff Campbell. The next batter, junior David Moscow laid down a perfect sacrifice squeeze bunt to score Sandonato and put the Brown and White up 3-0.
The Purple Aces finally got to Lehigh starter Joe Matteo in the fourth plating three runs.
Ercolano then gave LU the lead with his bat in the top of the seventh inning, drilling a Ben Norton offering over the right field wall, some 360 feet away, for a two-run home run to put Lehigh on top by a 5-3 score. The blast was Ercolano’s fifth of the season as the Mountain Hawks center fielder was 3-for-5 on the day with a pair of runs scored and two RBI. Geiger followed with a single and then McBride followed for a double. An error by left-fielder Kern Watts allowed Geiger to come all the way around to put Lehigh back up by three.
On the mound, Matteo gave Lehigh six solid innings, allowing three runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts. With a three-run lead, Lehigh head coach Sean Leary turned the game over to the freshmen in his bullpen.
Greg Mortka took the ball first and was outstanding for two innings, but ran out of gas in the ninth, giving up hits to three of the first four batters he faced. Next up was Leland Weisband, who faced three batters, allowing a hit, a walk and a hit batter.
“Sure it stings, but Geoff (
Weisband was credited with the loss and falls to 2-1 on the season. Matt Brinkmann (6-5) tossed two and a third innings of scoreless relief to earn the win.
The loss wraps-up one of the finest seasons in school history. Lehigh shared its second Patriot League title and won its first ever tournament crown, making its subsequent first ever NCAA regional appearance. The Mountain Hawks will lose seven seniors from a team that won 28 games in 2006, the second most in school history.
