Lehigh University
Temple
Lehigh advances to LBC finals in wild win
4/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 |
AMBLER, Pa. – The Mountain Hawks advanced to their second straight Liberty Bell Classic championship game, and fourth in the last five years, with a thrilling 17-15 win over Temple on Tuesday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field. Liam O’Connor, Billy Swenson and Billy Goldman led the Lehigh offensive outburst, each driving in a team high three RBI. Matt Heltz had a game high six RBI in the losing effort for the Owls, who fall to 13-10 with the loss. The Brown and White improve to 13-15 with the win.
The Owls struck first in the bottom of the first, on a three-run homerun to right field by Heltz, his second of the year.
The Mountain Hawks did not let the early setback faze them, as Andy Russell led off the top of the second with a double to left field. Russell came around to score on a double by Geoff Campbell, putting runners on second and third, as Logan Marshall had walked in the previous at bat.
Joe Bellini picked up an RBI on a groundout to third base, plating
Lehigh continued its offensive onslaught in the next inning, putting four more runs on the board. The Mountain Hawks loaded the bases with just one away, then Swenson proceeded to unload them on a three-run triple center field. O’Connor picked up his third RBI of the game on a single through the middle of the infield, to score Swenson, giving Lehigh a 9-5 advantage.
The Mountain Hawks pounded out three more runs in the top of the seventh, with Ercolano, Goldman and Brendan McGaheran all picking up RBI in the inning. The Owls tried closing the gap in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs, but Lehigh’s offense could not be stopped, as they put three more runs up in the top of the eighth, taking a 17-12 lead with just an inning and a half to play.
Andrew Grim (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on just three hits. Berger pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits.
Lehigh will now face the winner of Lafayette-Delaware in the championship game on Tuesday April 8 at
Lehigh returns to Patriot League play this weekend, as they host a home-and-home series with Navy. The first two games against the Midshipmen will be played in
