Monday, March 10
Baltimore, MD
3:30 PM
Lehigh University
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2
Coppin State University
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7
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E
Coppin State
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Lehigh
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8
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Mountain Hawks sweep doubleheader at Coppin State
3/10/2014 6:46:00 PM | Baseball
GLEN BURNIE, Md. – The Lehigh baseball team completed a sweep of Monday's doubleheader at Coppin State with a 9-3 win in the opening game and an 8-2 victory in the day's second contest. The Mountain Hawks executed offensively and on the mound to win their third-straight game, Lehigh's longest winning streak since March 31-April 3, 2013.
"Our pitchers did a great job of throwing strikes today and we did a lot of the little things well offensively," said head coach Sean Leary. "Our system is built around using our team speed to execute steals and bunts, and we did a really good job at that today."
Senior Joe Abeln batted in three runs in Lehigh's two wins while going 4-for-7 at the plate. Freshman Jacen Nalesnik went 4-for-8 while also recording three RBI. Starting pitchers Nick Stephens and Colin Gotzon picked up the win, while Kevin Long and Nick Cassell recorded the saves.
Coppin State began the day's first game, a nine-inning contest, with a leadoff triple, but Stephens retired the next three batters to keep the Eagles scoreless.
With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the first, Abeln and junior John Elson executed a double steal before senior Tyler Brong smoked a double down the left field line to put Lehigh up 2-0. Junior Connor Faust followed with another double down the left field line to score Brong, before Nalesnik singled up the middle to bring home Faust. The Mountain Hawks wrapped up the inning with a 4-0 lead.
The Eagles added one run in the second and sent two more home in the third on three hits. After Coppin State's only two scoring innings, Stephens retired his final nine batters while fanning four as Lehigh was able to claim a 5-1 lead heading into the seventh.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh, sophomore Mike Garzillo layed down an RBI bunt single to drive home freshman Patrick Donnelly. Coppin State's starter was forced to exit, but the Mountain Hawks added two more in the inning to take an 8-3 lead. Long allowed just two hits while striking out three in three innings of work to earn the save as Lehigh picked up its first win of the day.
Stephens claimed the win after allowing three runs on six hits, while striking out seven, in six innings of work. Coppin State's starter Shane Davies suffered the loss.
Lehigh picked up right where it left off in the day's second game, a seven-inning affair, scoring four runs in the first three innings. The Eagles' starter Yahya Muhammad loaded the bases after hitting three-straight Mountain Hawks before an RBI from Brong brought Lehigh's first run across the plate. Junior Tim McKay smacked an RBI single to right field to drive home the second run, before a Nalesnik single through the left side added two to make the score 4-1 in favor of Lehigh heading into the fourth inning.
Gotzon recorded eight strikeouts through the first four innings as the Eagles were only able to get two runs across the board. With the score at 5-2 heading into the sixth, the Mountain Hawks added three insurance runs thanks to a pair of singles up the middle from McKay and Abeln. Cassell took care of the rest, fanning the Eagles in order in the top of the seventh as the Mountain Hawks completed the sweep.
Gotzon finished his outing with nine strikeouts and just one earned run on four hits in five innings of work. Cassell fanned a total of five batters while allowing just one hit and no runs in two innings.
Lehigh's home contest against Muhlenberg scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed. The Mountain Hawks head to Fairleigh Dickinson this weekend to compete against the Knights and NJIT.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gotzon, Colin (1-0)
L: MUHAMMAD,Y (0-3)
S: Cassell, Nick (3)
Batting:
2B: PERCELL,D 1
RBI: FITCH,J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HAMLETT,D 1 ; DOWER,C. 1
CS: FITCH,J. 1
HBP: ARCIAGA,I. 1 ; BROWN,W 1 ; BRYANT,M 1
Batting:
2B: Elson, John 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1
RBI: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Abeln, Joe 2 ; Brong, Tyler 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; McKay, Tim 1 ; Wilt, Brandon 1
SH: Wilt, Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Abeln, Joe 1 ; Faust, Connor 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; McKay, Tim 2 ; Wilt, Brandon 1
SB: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1 ; Faust, Connor 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; McKay, Tim 1 ; Wilt, Brandon 1
HBP: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Baseball vs. Coppin State
Tuesday, April 29
Baseball vs. Penn
Wednesday, March 19
Baseball vs. UAlbany
Sunday, March 16
Season Preview Baseball
Thursday, February 13
