Lehigh University Athletics
Senior leadership won’t be a concern in 2011 for the Mountain Hawks
2/24/2011 3:18:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Loaded with returning field players, the Lehigh baseball team will look to take a big step forward in 2011 after a surprising second-place finish in the Patriot League standings last year. The Mountain Hawks are coming off 2010 season where they were picked to finish second to last in the Patriot League preseason poll. However, a 12-8 record in league play earned them a No. 2 seed headed into the tournament.
The Mountain Hawks will be very young and inexperienced in the pitching rotation, but the Brown and White should be right in the thick of things in the Patriot League standings with nine seniors projected to fill out the opening day lineup card.
"We have a talented group of seniors," said Lehigh head coach Sean Leary. "We believe their experience will be the key to our success this spring. Nine seniors who understand our system raises our expectations for this group. That is our focus this year, to help our young pitching staff by scoring some more runs. We have experienced players, who have worked very hard to improve, and that will help this year."
Lehigh will be led by the quad-captains of Mike Lebo, Billy Goldman, Kevin Mihalik and Brendan McGaheran. Here's a look at how the Mountain Hawks stack up heading into the season:
Infield
For the third consecutive year the Mountain Hawks return several players who saw playing time in the infield last season. The depth in the infield will be one of the teams' strengths throughout the season.
Right in the thick of things is junior shortstop Brendan McGaheran, who made a strong comeback in 2010 after missing the 2009 season due to injury, starting 43 games for the Mountain Hawks last year. McGaheran was one of the Mountain Hawks' most consistent offensive weapons last season, as he batted .297 with three home runs, 23 runs batted in and seven stolen bases.
His partner on the left side of the infield will be third baseman Kevin Mihalik, who was one of Lehigh's most productive hitters. The All-Patriot League player started 42 games in 2010, hitting .319 with two home runs and 24 runs batted in.
Senior Brendan Pifer will lock down second base after starting 39 games last season. Pifer hit .276 with a home run and 14 runs batted in. He also stole eight bases for the Mountain Hawks.
Senior Austin Borden will take over the duties at first when base this season after hitting .328 in 23 games last season. Borden was also the Mountain Hawks' leader in on-base percentage (.400) and second on the team in slugging percentage (.431). He also was perfect when playing the field, spotting a fielding percentage of 1.000.
At catcher, Leary will go with Chad Warga, who threw out 10 guys stealing last season. Backing up Warga will be sophomore Alex Jacquez and freshmen Joe Abeln and Brandon Wilt.
Senior Sean Killeen will provide some extra power to the Mountain Hawks' lineup this season as the designated hitter. Killeen, who joined Lehigh last year after transferring, was a .260 hitter in the 31 games he started and drove in 20 runs.
Providing depth in the infield will be junior Ryan Gajdos and sophomore Brandon Sady. Lehigh also welcomes freshman Casey Turner, who will serve as a utility player. Freshman Tyler Brong will add depth to the first base position as well.
Outfield
The Brown and White will also start three senior outfielders, led by senior Andy Russell, who will play right field this season. A First Team All-Patriot League selection in 2009, Russell led Lehigh in home runs (7) and runs batted in (29) during the 2010 campaign. Although his batting average was down, the Doylestown, Pa. native led the team with a .468 slugging percentage.
Russell will be joined by classmate Billy Goldman in center who started a team-high 50 games last season and hit .311 which was fourth highest on the team. Rounding out the outfield will be junior Logan Winchester in left field, who hit .282 in 43 starts for the Mountain Hawks last season.
Providing depth in the outfield will be freshman Jeff Wiand, who will see significant playing time. Wiand's lefty bat and speed will provide a great spark when he is in the lineup. Senior Ross Biggs and sophomore Tom O'Malley will also see time in the outfield. Biggs hit .242 in seven starts last season while O'Malley saw action in 16 games last season, starting eight of them.
Pitching
Senior Mike Lebo will head into the season as the No. 1 pitcher after a solid 2010 campaign on the hill. Lebo, who made a team-high 10 starts for the Brown and White last season, tossed 59 innings, striking out 37 batters and posted a record of 4-4.
From there, the Mountain Hawks will look to piece together their rotation from there. Freshman Mike Burke is also expected to make a start in this weekend's first set of games down at Davidson. Sophomore Steven Ball will also be part of the young rotation.
"The first month is going to be a learning curve for us to figure out how the rotation is going to shake out," said Leary. "We don't want to say we are unproven in the rotation, but a lot of the guys just haven't had the opportunity to pitch yet at the Division I level."
The Mountain Hawks will have the luxury of having senior Cory Kent and Dan Ciccone helping close games out of the bullpen this year. Kent is part of a group of 45 players named to the preseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award. Kent earned second-team All-Patriot League honors last year. He appeared in 18 games, making four starts, and finished with nine saves on the season, posting a 1.46 ERA in Patriot League action.
"We believe that we can win a lot of games this year with a front line type of arm that Cory has to stop and close out games," said Leary. "We believe Kent and fellow junior Dan Ciccone should provide that type of experience. This year with how young we are, we want to finish games with experience."
Lehigh will open up the season Friday at 4 p.m.when it travels down south to Davidson, N.C. for a 2 p.m. matchup with Ohio. While in North Carolina, Lehigh will face Ohio and Davidson over a three-day span. The Mountain Hawks will make their 2011 home debut at Goodman Campus with back-to-back doubleheaders against Iona on March 19-20.
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