Lehigh University
Army
Lehigh's bats slump as Army takes first two games
4/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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WEST POINT, N.Y. – Lehigh struggled to get its offense going on Saturday, as it fell to Army in both games of a doubleheader at Doubleday Field in West Point, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game one, but the Black Knights scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning to pull out a 3-2 victory. The Brown and White built a 1-0 lead in the second game, but Army was able to once again rally and come away with a 4-1 win. With the two losses, Lehigh falls to 14-18 on the season and to 6-4 in Patriot League play. Army will head into Sunday with an 18-11 (8-2) overall record.
“Our starting pitchers were terrific today and they gave us the opportunity to win, but we just couldn’t come up with enough clutch hits,” head coach Sean Leary said. “All four starters today threw well and Army was able to come up with an extra clutch hit in each game.”
Junior Brendan McGaheran kicked off the series with a double to left center and he would then advance to third off a passed ball. With one out in the inning, junior Andrew Russell singled in McGaheran to give the Brown and White a 1-0 lead.
Lehigh would maintain its 1-0 lead into the fourth inning and junior Jim McConlogue was able to increase it when he scored off two errors from the Black Knights.
Senior Andrew Berger was flawless on the mound heading into the bottom of the fourth, but the Black Knights were finally able to get their bats going. Army scored its only three runs of the game in the inning and Matt Fouch was able to shut Lehigh down for the rest of the game.
Berger (3-1) was credited with the loss in game one, as he went six innings, scattering six hits and he struck out five. The Mountain Hawks’ offense only produced five hits in the game and not one player had more than one.
In game two, Lehigh once again got off to a strong start as junior Chad Warga singled in senior Patrick Groome in the second inning to make the score 1-0.
The Black Knights tied the game in the bottom of the third off a Steve May single that drove in Zach Price.
The pitchers took over for the next few innings until Army was able to pull ahead for good in the bottom of the sixth with two runs. The Black Knights were able to add a final insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Kevin McKague singled in Clint Moore.
Senior Ken Longernecker (4-2) was credited with the loss after going 7.1 innings and allowing three earned runs. Cummings picked up the win for Army and McKague came into the game in the ninth to earn his eighth save of the season.
The Mountain Hawks were able to produce a few more hits (eight) in the second game, but they squandered several opportunities by leaving 10 runners on base.
“I thought we scrapped a little harder in game two, but it wasn’t enough,” Leary said. “Give credit to Army, it got some big outs when it needed to.”
Leary knows the team has to get refocused for tomorrow’s games, “We can’t really change to much heading into tomorrow, we just have to play better. We'll challenge the team to come out and execute better.”
Lehigh will have its chance to even the series with another doubleheader Sunday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. in West Point. Fans can go to Lehighsports.com and hear live audio of both games with Jeff Tourial and Steve Lomangino calling the action.
