Lehigh University
Lafayette
Lehigh knocked out in title game by Lafayette
4/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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“It was a frustrating loss,” said Lehigh head coach Sean Leary. “We didn’t execute our fundamentals late in the game, and that’s what makes the difference in these one run games.”
Lehigh’s first two batters of the game recorded outs, but Brendan McGaheran kept the inning alive with a walk, then proceeded to steal second and advanced to third on a past ball. Russell brought home McGaheran, as he hustled down the first base line to beat out a single to the right side of the infield.
The Leopards answered back in the next half inning on a base hit that just snuck under the glove of Matt Reitz at third base, scoring Froio again.
In the bottom half of the second Dan Clauson just missed a homerun as he hit an RBI double that scraped off the right field wall, scoring Reitz from third base to tie the game at 2-2. The Mountain Hawks took the lead back in the next at bat, on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Liam O’Connor. Joe Ercolano made it a two-run lead on a single back up the middle to score Clauson.
The offenses slowed down after the first two innings and the pitching took over, as the teams held each other scoreless for the next four innings.
The Leopards tied the game up in the next inning on a softly hit single to center field by Justin Shepard. Two batters later they took the lead on a groundout to first base, plating pinch runner A.J. Pisarri.
The Mountain Hawks had a couple of chances to tie the score, putting runners in scoring position twice in the eighth inning, but they could not capitalize on their opportunities.
Ken Longernecker (0-1) was credited with the loss in relief, giving up two runs in the eighth inning. Andrew Berger started the game for Lehigh, and surrendered just three runs in seven innings of work, while striking out three.
Lehigh returns to action tomorrow for a non-league game against Villanova. That game is scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. from Plymouth Meeting,
Photo © 2008 Rick Smith
