Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks to host Temple in home opener Wednesday
3/19/2013 5:25:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After concluding its seven-game road trip with back-to-back extra inning contests, the Lehigh baseball team will host the Temple Owls in its home opener at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The contest was moved from Tuesday because of snow. Lehigh comes to Goodman Campus winning five of its last seven games and owning an overall record of 10-6.
The Mountain Hawks fell to Mount St. Mary's 9-8 in 10 innings Friday before playing only one game of a scheduled doubleheader against the Mountaineers on Saturday. Lehigh won Saturday's game 10-9 in the 12th inning off an RBI double by senior Casey Turner, who was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday. Game Two was canceled after rain delayed Game One for two hours in the middle of the sixth inning.
Sophomore Justin Pacchioli is hitting a team-best .396 and is tied with sophomore Connor Faust for the team lead in RBI with 11. Sophomore John Elson and junior Brandon Wilt are the Mountain Hawks' leading base stealers, as both have registered eight so far.Juniors Jayme Edwards and Colin Gotzon have been Lehigh's top performers on the mound with three wins apiece. Gotzon has struck out a team-high 21 batters and sophomore Nick Stephens leads the Mountain Hawks with three saves in six appearances and a 2.40 ERA.
Sitting at 6-9 overall, Temple is trying to extend its three-game winning streak after pounding Lafayette 10-3 on Wednesday and sweeping a doubleheader against Penn State on Sunday with narrow victories of 4-2 and 3-2. Henry Knabe leads the Owls offense with a .431 batting average and eight stolen bases in 13 games this season. Derek Peterson has a team-high 15 RBI and has started all 15 games at first base.
Led by Patrick and Eric Peterson, the Owls pitching staff has given up just seven runs in the past three games. Patrick Peterson has a team-best 18 strikeouts while Eric Peterson's 2.55 ERA is the lowest among Temple starters. Ryan Kuehn has been the go-to arm in the bullpen, holding opponents to a .200 batting average in five appearances.
Temple owns a 28-18-1 all-time record against Lehigh, but the Brown and White have taken the last two matchups 13-12 and 8-5.
Following Wednesday's game, the Mountain Hawks will host LIU Brooklyn for a single game at 3 p.m. Friday before playing a road doubleheader against the Blackbirds beginning at noon Saturday.
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