Lehigh University
Holy Cross
Mountain Hawks drop two games to Holy Cross
3/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh dropped the final two games of its four-game series to Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon on the Goodman Campus. The Mountain Hawks did their best to stay with the Crusaders, but in the end they just could not come away with wins. Lehigh falls to 12-15 (0-4) with the losses, while Holy Cross improves to 8-13 (4-0) with the wins.
“Holy Cross outplayed us in every facet of the game,” said head coach Sean Leary. “Plain and simple, they were just the better team today.”
The Crusaders started the scoring right off the bat in game one, with an RBI single to right field by Brendan Akashian. Matt Perry, who led the game off with a walk, scored on the play from second base. The Mountain Hawks answered right back with a single to right field by Brendan McGaheran, who knocked in Billy Goldman on the play.
Lehigh took its first lead of the game in the next inning, when Geoff Campbell led the inning off by reaching on a wild throw from shortstop John Sills.
Holy Cross tied the score up at 2-2 in the top of the third on a sac fly to right field by Kyle Lister. The Crusaders had a chance to score a couple of more runs in the inning, but Greg Angelo struck out Nick Ciardiello to end the inning, stranding runners on the corners.
Lehigh took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning when Joe Ercolano led off with a single through the right side of the infield then came around to score on a fielder’s choice by Andy Russell.
The Crusaders batted around the order in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on a two-run pinch hit double by Eric Oxford, to break the game open and take a 6-3 lead. Andrew Grim kept the score at 6-3 pitching 1.1 innings of perfect relief, but the Mountain Hawks offense could not take advantage of any of their opportunities.
Angelo (1-1) was credited with his first loss of the year, pitching 5.1 innings, surrendering three earned runs and one unearned on four hits.
In game two, Holy Cross jumped out to an early lead, putting four runs on the board in the top of the third. The Crusaders added another run in the top of the fourth on an infield single by Matt Perry, scoring Billy Cupelo on the play.
Lehigh picked up its first run of the game in the bottom half of the inning when McGaheran led off with a double to deep left field. Logan Marshall brought him home two batters later on a sac fly to left field, to make the score 5-1.
The Crusaders put up four more runs in the sixth and eighth innings before the Mountain Hawks struck again. Goldman led off the bottom half of the eighth with a double in the right center gap. He moved up to third on a wild pitch, and then came across to score on a deep double to center field by McGaheran. McGaheran later came around to score on a sac fly to left field by
Holy Cross scored two more runs in the top of the ninth to give it an 11-3 victory. Rob Russell (3-2) earned the loss for Lehigh, pitching 3.1 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits.
The Mountain Hawks return to the diamond on Tuesday when they play
