Saturday, April 6
Goodman Campus
12:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
0
vs
1
Army
Brong’s heroics lift Lehigh to split versus Army
4/7/2013 1:01:00 AM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team bounced back from a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in game one to earn a 4-3 extra inning victory and a Patriot League doubleheader split against Army. Brong hit the game-tying home run to send the nightcap into extra innings and roped a walk off single down the left field line to bring home senior Casey Turner for the winning run in the 10th.
“I was seeing the ball real well and I knew he was going to throw me fastballs so I was just really just waiting for the one pitch I could drive,” Brong said of his final at bat.The Black Knights are now 10-15 overall and 2-4 in Patriot League play, while the Mountain Hawks own an overall mark of 16-13 including 3-3 in league action.
“I'm proud of our team because things really weren't bouncing our way today and we never put our heads down, just kept plugging away and came away with a nice split at the end of the day,” Lehigh head coach Sean Leary said.
Junior starter Colin Gotzon and Chris Rowley battled in a pitcher's duel throughout game one, as both of them threw all seven innings. The lone run of the contest came in the sixth inning after Alex Jensen was hit by a pitch and scored on a Pat Mescher RBI single. Lehigh threatened to send game one into extra innings after sophomore Connor Faust singled and moved to third on a groundout by sophomore Pat Walshe. Freshman Mike Garzillo followed with a single to shortstop, but Faust was thrown out trying to score the tying run from second base.
Mescher finished game one 2-for-3 at the plate for Army while sophomore Justin Pacchioli added a pair of hits for Lehigh. Rowley struck out nine batters to earn the win and Gotzon struck out five and walked one in the losing effort.
A fielder's choice off the bat of junior Joe Abeln ended the Mountain Hawks' scoring drought in the third inning of game two. Junior starter Nick Cassell had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning before surrendering a one-out single to Grant Van Orden that put runners on the corners. Army would score three times in the top of the sixth inning after a Jensen RBI single and a two-run triple by Mark McCants. The Brown and White left the bases loaded in the bottom half of the frame, but tied the game at three in the seventh inning on a two-run home run from Brong off reliever Brian Hapeman.
Pacchioli got a two-out rally going in the 10th inning with a bunt single and stolen base. After walked, Pacchioli moved to third base on a passed ball to put the winning run 90 feet away leading into Brong's walkoff hit.
Lehigh outhit the Black Knights 14-4 in game two of the twinbill, with Brong going 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. McCants led the Army offense with a 1-for-3 performance at the plate to go along with two RBI. Senior Tom O'Malley earned the win in relief after allowing one hit in 4.2 innings on the mound while Julian Larimer took the loss.
“Within a period of 36 hours, one-fifth of your season is over,” Brong said. “Every single game, at bat and pitch matters, so it was really big that we were able to come back to win the second game.”
The Mountain Hawks will host Army in another doubleheader beginning at noon Sunday at the Goodman Campus.
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