
Comeback attempts not enough as Mountain Hawks drop two at Snowbird Classic
3/3/2014 9:09:00 PM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Lehigh baseball team found itself down early in a pair of games Monday and could never come back as the Mountain Hawks dropped a 6-4 game to St. Bonaventure (1-8) and 15-6 decision to Western Michigan (4-7) at the Snowbird Classic. The two losses drop Lehigh to 2-5 on the season.
"We had one rough inning in the first game and that's something that we'll need to battle through in the future," said head coach Sean Leary. "Colin Gotzon and David Young threw the ball really well for us and it was good to see Patrick Donnelly get his first career extra-base hit. In the second game, we had some good quality at bats from Brandon Wilt, Mackey Price and Connor Faust."
In the first game of the day, Lehigh starter Gotzon began his season debut by setting down the Bonnies in order while fanning two in the first inning. The Mountain Hawks got on the board in the second on an RBI single to right field from Donnelly that scored fellow freshman Jacen Nalesnik.
The next six St. Bonaventure outs came by way of strikeouts from Gotzon, but a leadoff triple and RBI single from the Bonnies' Thad Johnson got St. Bonaventure on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Gotzon fanned a total of eight batters while allowing just three hits and one run in three full innings of work as junior Nick Macaione came in to relieve Gotzon in the fourth.
Four walks and a pair of triples helped the Bonnies plate five runs in the fifth inning and take a 6-1 lead. The Mountain Hawks got two back in the sixth with an RBI double from senior Tyler Brong and RBI single from Nalesnik. Donnelly roped a triple to right center with one out in the seventh before freshman Matt Kozemchak recorded a ground-out to shortstop that brought Donnelly home as the Mountain Hawks cut St. Bonaventure's lead to 6-4. Johnson was able to render the Mountain Hawks hitless in the eighth and ninth as the Bonnies captured their first win of the season.
Joel Rosencrance claimed the win after he threw three scoreless innings. Macaione surrendered four runs in 1.2 innings and took the loss. Freshman David Young pitched 3.1 innings for the Mountain Hawks while allowing just one run and three hits to keep Lehigh in the game.
In the day's second game, the Mountain Hawks found themselves down by one in the second inning before Donnelly smacked a leadoff double to left field. Price roped a single to score Donnelly and put the Mountain Hawks on the board. After Price stole second, an RBI double from senior Brandon Wilt scored another Mountain Hawk run before senior John Elson followed with a single up the middle to give Lehigh a 3-1 lead through one and a half innings.
The Broncos responded with a triple from Andrew Sohn in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at three before plating two more to take a 5-3 lead. Western Michigan put up five more runs on five hits over the next two innings to take a 10-3 advantage through four.
The Broncos extended their lead to 13-4 before the Mountain Hawks added two in the seventh on a two RBI double from Faust, but it wasn't enough as Western Michigan grabbed its second-straight win.
Faust finished the game with three RBI, while Price and Wilt each recorded two hits.
Lehigh starter Kevin Boswick suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs on six hits in 1.1 innings. Western Michigan relief pitcher Nick Bradley claimed the win.
After a day off from competition Tuesday, the Mountain Hawks will resume action at the Snowbird Classic Wednesday when Lehigh takes on Maine at 12 p.m. The Mountain Hawks then close out their spring break trip against Presbyterian Thursday at 11 a.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ROSENCRANCE, Joel (1-1)
L: Macaione, Nick (0-1)
S: JOHNSON, Thad (1)

Batting:
2B: Brong, Tyler 1
3B: Donnelly, Patrick 1
RBI: Brong, Tyler 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Kozemchak, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Abeln, Joe 1 ; Brong, Tyler 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1
SB: Elson, John 1
CS: Rinaldi, Anthony 1

Batting:
2B: DIAZ, Jonathan 1 ; TRIMBLE, Daniel 1
3B: BELL, Tyler 1 ; HEATH, Bret 1
RBI: JOHNSON, Thad 1 ; DUNN, Dylan 1 ; BELL, Tyler 3 ; HEATH, Bret 1
SH: COX, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: JOHNSON, Thad 1 ; ROSENCRANCE, Joel 1 ; DUNN, Dylan 1 ; BELL, Tyler 1 ; TRIMBLE, Daniel 2
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