Saturday, March 22
Goodman Campus
12:00 PM

Lehigh University

7-8

14
vs
1

Mt. St. Mary's

6-6

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mount St. Mary's
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
1
Lehigh
5
3
1
0
0
5
X
14
13
0
Connor Faust

Lehigh takes two from Mount St. Mary’s in Saturday’s home opener

3/22/2014 5:51:00 PM | Baseball



BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team swept Mount St. Mary's in a Saturday doubleheader with a 14-1 win in game one and a 5-1 victory in game two in Lehigh's home opener on the Goodman Campus Baseball Field. The Mountain Hawks snapped Mount St. Mary's (6-7) four-game winning streak while stringing together a three-game run of their own to improve to 8-8 on the season.
 
"In the first game we executed really well from the first inning on," said head coach Sean Leary. "In the second game, the Mount St. Mary's pitcher was outstanding and we just kept battling. Our pitchers kept us in that ballgame and our guys just stayed with it and I was proud that they came through in the clutch."
 
The Lehigh bats came up big in the first game, while the Mountain Hawks used a five-run eighth inning in the second game. The Mountain Hawk pitching staff of senior Mike Burke, junior Nick Stephens and sophomore Kevin Long allowed just two runs in the day's 16 innings of play.
 
"Both Mike and Nick gave us Patriot League efforts," said Leary. "We need those types of efforts to win our league games and they did an outstanding job. Kevin came in and did a great job so it was a really complete day. We played well defensively, too, and there were a lot of positives."
 
Ten Mountain Hawks drove in runs during the twinbill, led by senior Joe Abeln, junior Connor Faust and sophomore Mike Garzillo who each tallied three apiece. Junior Tim McKay and freshman David Young both batted in a pair. Lehigh also played flawless defense, committing no errors in the day's action.
 
The Mountain Hawks got on the board immediately in the day's first game, a seven-inning contest, as back-to-back doubles from junior John Elson and Garzillo brought home Lehigh's first run. Mount starting pitcher Connor Graber hit four-straight batters as Lehigh was able to add two more in the process. With the bases loaded and no outs, McKay roped a single to right field to score Faust before a sacrifice fly from senior Brandon Wilt added Lehigh's fifth and final run of the inning.
 
Burke, Lehigh's starting pitcher, sat down the Mount batters in order in the top of the second before the Mountain Hawks bats kept at it in the bottom. A pair of singles from Garzillo and Abeln forced Graber from the game before Faust smoked a double to the left field corner to score the two Mountain Hawks. Another RBI from McKay gave Lehigh an 8-0 lead at the end of the second inning. An Abeln sac fly in the third inning gave the Mountain Hawks a 9-0 advantage.
 
Burke continued to fire on the mound, retiring four of the next five batters he faced before striking out the side in the fifth frame. The Mount got a single run on the board in the top of the sixth on an RBI infield single from Kory Britton.
 
After two scoreless frames, Lehigh exploded once again in the sixth inning. An RBI single up the middle from Young scored junior Patrick Walshe before freshman Spencer Diggins' first career hit scored McKay. Garzillo was hit by a pitch which brought home Young before an RBI from freshman John Scarr added another as Lehigh plated five in the sixth inning to take a 14-1 lead. Burke sat the Mount batters down in order to close out his complete game in the top of the seventh and claim his first win of the season.
 
Burke finished with a line of five hits, one run and seven strikeouts in seven innings. Graber suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on five hits in one inning.
 
In the day's second game, a full nine inning affair, the Mount got on the board in the top of the second inning on an RBI groundout from Chris Del Vecchio. Mount starter Karl Lamont pitched lights out, not giving up a hit until a single up the middle from senior Tyler Brong in the seventh. Stephens worked his way out of multiple jams, with the help of strong defensive plays from his infield, to keep Lehigh down by just one run before Long came in to pitch in the top of the eighth.
 
Lehigh was trailing 1-0 with just six outs left to work with heading into the bottom of the eighth before singles from McKay and freshman Patrick Donnelly were followed by an RBI shot through the right side from Young that scored the tying run. With runners on the corners and one out, Elson put down a bunt as Donnelly came home with the go-ahead run on the successful squeeze play. RBI singles from Garzillo and Abeln helped Lehigh add three more and take a 5-1 lead heading into the ninth.  Long allowed just one Mount hit in the final frame as Lehigh was able to pull out its second victory of the day.
 
Long captured the win on the mound after rendering the Mount scoreless through two innings. Stephens finished with a line of one run on eight hits and five strikeouts in seven innings of work. Lamont suffered the loss after allowing four of Lehigh's eighth inning runs.
 
Lehigh looks to complete the series sweep of Mount St. Mary's with a single game at 12 p.m. Sunday on the Goodman Campus Baseball Field.  
 
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Burke, Mike (1-0)

L: GRABER (0-1)

Batting:

2B: CLOW 1

RBI: BRITTON 1

Base Running:

RUNS: SCOTT 1

SB: BRITTON 1

Lehigh LogoLehigh

Batting:

2B: Elson, John 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Faust, Connor 1 ; McKay, Tim 1

RBI: Diggins, Spencer 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Abeln, Joe 2 ; Scarr, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 3 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; McKay, Tim 2 ; Young, David 1 ; Wilt, Brandon 1

SF: Abeln, Joe 1 ; Wilt, Brandon 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Elson, John 2 ; Diggins, Spencer 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Abeln, Joe 2 ; Brong, Tyler 1 ; Faust, Connor 2 ; Walshe, Patrick 1 ; McKay, Tim 1 ; Young, David 1 ; Wilt, Brandon 1

HBP: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1 ; Brong, Tyler 1 ; Faust, Connor 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Walshe, Patrick 1

Game Leaders

AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2