Sunday, April 7
Goodman Campus
12:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
1
vs
3
Army
Lehigh’s bats break out in historic second game of twinbill against Army
4/8/2013 1:35:00 AM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After suffering a 3-1 defeat to Army in game one, the Lehigh Baseball team broke out with a 19-10 drubbing of the Black Knights in the nightcap to split a Sunday doubleheader at Goodman Campus. Lehigh's 19 runs and 22 hits were the highest totals since a 19-19 tie at Saint Joseph's during the 2009 season.
“We had a great approach and hit the ball hard,” Lehigh head coach Sean Leary said. “Some deep balls were getting caught in game one and in game two a lot of guys were rewarded for their effort, which didn't only come from today, but from a whole offseason of preparation.”
All of the Mountain Hawks' nine starters scored at least one run in the second game to help the team finish the weekend with a 17-14 overall record that includes 4-4 in Patriot League play.
Army (11-16, 3-5 Patriot League) got on the board in the second inning of game one with an Andrew Johnson RBI groundout. Lehigh answered when junior Joe Abeln scored on a wild pitch delivered by Black Knights starter Alex Robinett in the bottom of the fourth. Pat Mescher broke the tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single off sophomore Nick Stephens that scored Harold Earls. A leadoff triple by Dakari Cooke followed by a Justin Reece single gave Army an insurance run, which ended up being the last one of the game. Abeln finished the opener 2-for-3 with a run scored, as did Mescher. Senior Casey Turner, who made a diving catch on a Harold Earls fly ball and threw out Mescher at first to complete a double play at the end of the third inning, went 2-for-3. Stephens took the loss despite striking out six batters and giving up only two earned runs in 5.1 innings. Robinett picked up the win.
The Mountain Hawks struck first in a historic game two that lasted 3 ½ hours. Abeln's fielder's choice scored a run in the first inning, but Lehigh trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the third after Alex Jensen hit a two-run home run off junior starter Mike Burke. Following that moment, Lehigh's bats exploded with a 12-run,10-hit inning that sent 15 batters to the plate and gave the Brown and White a 13-3 lead. Lehigh faced three different Army pitchers during the inning. The season-high scoring barrage featured a pair of RBI singles by sophomore Connor Faust, one of which came off starter Gunnar Carroll, and a bases loaded double into the right center field gap by sophomore John Elson. The inning was prolonged when sophomore Tim McKay reached on an error and sophomore Lance Kirschenbaum scored on a wild pitch by reliever Erik Washburn. Army clawed back with four runs in the seventh inning, getting RBI hits from Mark McCants and Connor Love. The Brown and White erupted with a two-out rally in the bottom half that began when McKay was hit by a pitch. Turner reached on an error by Jensen when freshman Zach Gray stepped to the plate for the first time in the contest. Gray then looped double into left field off Davis Marlar that scored two more runs and put the Mountain Hawks in front 15-9.
Elson finished game two 5-for-6 with four RBI and three runs scored. Abeln had four RBI hits of his own to go along with a pair of hits, while McKay scored three runs and went 2-for-4. Turner hit 2-for-5 from the second spot while registering three RBI and scoring three runs. Jacob Page led Army with a 2-for-5 performance at the plate, including a solo home run in the ninth inning. Burke earned his third win of the season, striking out six batters in five innings pitched, while Carroll was tagged with the loss after giving up seven earned runs and nine hits in 2.1 innings on the mound.
Lehigh will play a rescheduled game against Rider at 3 p.m. Tuesday before hosting Delaware State at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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