Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh completes sweep of Lafayette
9/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Bethlehem, PA – Lehigh captured a share of its first-ever Patriot League regular season title with a pair of wins against Lafayette on Sunday, giving the Mountain Hawks a sweep in the four game series. Lehigh won the opener 6-2, and battled back for a 9-8 win in the game two slugfest. The Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season with a record of 28-19-1 overall and 13-7 in Patriot League play. Lafayette heads to the post-season with a 23-21 record, and a 12-8 mark in league games. The two teams will square off once again in the first round of the Patriot League tournament beginning May 11 at Navy. The Midshipmen were 13-7 in the league, but will host the tournament as the number one seed because of their head-to-head record vs. the Mountain Hawks.
Freshman pitcher Jack Muscalus continued to throw well against league opponents, as he went the distance in game one to improve his record to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in the league. The complete game was the fifth in as many league outings for the righty.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning, catcher Jeff Quiros singled home Jeff Pietrak to tie the score at 1-1. After an Anthony Piccola single, Eric Hoffman doubled to left-center field, plating two runs and giving Muscalus all he would need. Hoffman later doubled down the right field line to score two more runners, as Lehigh went on to the 6-2 win.
The second game appeared to be going in Lafayette’s favor, as the Leopards built a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning. However, Lehigh rallied to tie the score, producing a five-spot in the bottom of the inning. After two singles, Quiros drove the ball into left-center field, plating a run. The next batter, shortstop Anthony Piccola, walloped a three-run homer to left-center field to make the score 5-4, and then left fielder Chad Thoman drew a bases loaded walk to tie the score at 5-5.
Lehigh took an 8-5 lead with a three-run sixth inning. Eric Hoffman singled through the right side with Piccola at second base to produce one run, and then an error and a sacrifice fly helped produce two more insurance runs.
Lafayette battled hard in its last at-bat, and managed to tie the score at 8-8. The big blow of the inning was a two-run triple for third baseman Vince D’Angelis that plated two. D’Angelis finished the game with three hits – including two triples – and three RBIs.
Jeff Quiros continued his strong day at the plate, lacing a single to left field that plated Thoman with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
The Mountain Hawks earn the sweep, but will have to get past the Leopards again next weekend at the Patriot League tournament. Lehigh, the second seed, will square off against third-seeded Lafayette next weekend in a winner-take-all one game playoff format to earn the right to play host and top seed Navy in a best-of-three series. Action gets underway at Noon on Saturday, May 11 at Navy’s Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis. All of the Lehigh games will be broadcast live on the Lehigh web site with Broadcast Coordinator Jeff Tourial and former Lehigh pitcher Jim Marshall calling the action.
Game One
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
Lafayette | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
Lehigh | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 9 | 0 |
WP – Jack Muscalus, Lehigh (7-3)
LP – Joe Saporetti, Lafayette (6-4)
LOB – Lafayette 8, Lehigh 4
HR – Lafayette: Craig Alexander
Game Two
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
Lafayette | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
Lehigh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 1 |
WP – Ryan Dodds, Lehigh (3-1)
LP – Kevin Swords, Lafayette (1-4)
LOB – Lafayette 4, Lehigh 6
HR – Lehigh: Anthony Piccola (1)
For more information, contact Jeff Tourial, Lehigh Sports Media Relations.
