Lehigh University
Temple
Lehigh falls to tough Temple squad
3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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PHILADELPHIA – In a back and forth battle between Lehigh and Temple, the Mountain Hawks were unable to get the final say, as they lost to the Owls 8-3 Tuesday afternoon in Philadelphia. Lehigh stayed within a run of
Joe Ercolano started the scoring in the first inning, leading the game off with a double to centerfield. Ercolano then proceeded to steal third base, and an error by third baseman Matt Heltz allowed him to come around to score, giving Lehigh an early 1-0 lead.
The Owls wasted no time evening the score up, as Stan Orzechowski hit a homerun to leftfield on the very first pitch thrown by Lehigh starter Rob Russell.
The Mountain Hawks cut their deficit to 3-2 in the top of the sixth when Ercolano came into score his second run of the game on a groundout by Andy Russell.
Swenson led the next inning off on a hit by pitch, and then moved up to third on a double by Logan Marshall, his second extra base hit of the game. Liam O’Connor brought Swenson home on a groundout to the shortstop, making it a one-run game again.
The Owls put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth, rallying for four runs, capped off by a two-run homer to left center by Mark Ortega.
Lehigh had plenty of chances to score during the game, stranding six runners on base, all of who were in scoring position.
Russell (2-1) was credited with the loss, pitching 5.1 innings, surrendering four runs on six hits, while striking out three. Mihalik pitched the final 2.2 innings and gave up four runs, all of which were unearned.
The Mountain Hawks return to action this weekend when they travel to
