Wednesday, March 5
Port Charlotte, Fla.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
3-5
11
vs
4
Maine
3-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Maine
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
2
4
12
3
Lehigh
0
1
0
0
6
1
3
0
X
11
12
1
Bats come up big in Lehigh’s 11-4 win over Maine
3/5/2014 5:13:00 PM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Lehigh baseball team used a six-run fifth inning to help propel the Mountain Hawks to an 11-4 win over Maine Wednesday afternoon at the Snowbird Classic. Lehigh's win over the reigning regular-season champions of the America East moves the Mountain Hawks to 3-5 on the season, while Maine falls to 3-8.
"Kevin Long pitched an outstanding game for us and we had great clutch hitting from Connor Faust and John Elson," said head coach Sean Leary. "We did a good job of battling at the plate and it's great to see the run production that we got today. There were some good hustle plays that really helped us out in our big inning."
The Black Bears threatened right from the start as Maine had the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the first inning. Lehigh starter sophomore Kevin Long forced a fly-out as freshman Jacen Nalesnik was able to throw out Maine's Colin Gay at the plate. A strikeout from Long ended the inning as the Mountain Hawks escaped with no damage done.
Following a pair of singles from senior Tyler Brong and freshman Patrick Donnelly, and RBI base hit from junior Tim McKay put a run on the board for the Mountain Hawks in the second. Maine tied the game in the top of the fifth with a homer from Alex Calbick as the contest entered the bottom of the fifth in a 1-1 tie.
Sophomore Anthony Rinaldi roped a leadoff single to centerfield before advancing to second on a ground out from classmate Mike Garzillo. Junior John Elson stepped up with a base hit to center that scored Rinaldi. Senior Joe Ablen drew a walk as Maine's starting pitcher was taken out of the game. Abeln and Elson executed a double steal to put runners on second and third as Faust ripped a two-run single to centerfield. An RBI from Donnelly plated one more before Lehigh capitalized on a pair of Maine errors to send three more runners home. The Mountain Hawks held a 7-1 lead as the inning came to a close.
The Black Bears added a run in the second, but McKay drew a walk to start Lehigh's half of the inning before taking second and third on a pair of wild pitches. Garzillo smacked a double to right field that drove home McKay and freshman Matt Kozemchak before another run was added on by a sacrifice fly from Abeln as Lehigh rode an 11-2 lead into the eighth.
Maine added two runs in the ninth on a home run and single to right, but senior Nick Cassell was able to close out the game and help the Mountain Hawks to the 11-4 win.
Faust and Elson each went 3-for-5 at the plate, while Faust drove in a team-leading three RBI. Garzillo finished with a pair of RBI while Donnelly had a 2-for-4 showing at the plate.
Long pitched six innings while allowing just two runs on seven hits to earn the win. Cassell earned the save after allowing two runs and five hits in three innings of work. Maine's Jeff Gelinas suffered the loss.
Lehigh wraps up competition at the Snowbird Classic Thursday at 10 a.m. against Presbyterian.
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Long, Kevin (2-0)
L: GELINAS (0-2)
S: Cassell, Nick (2)
Batting:
2B: HEATH 1 ; BERNARDO 1
HR: CALBICK 1 ; SALCEDO 1
RBI: GAY 1 ; BLACK 1 ; CALBICK 1 ; SALCEDO 1
SH: BALZANO 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CALBICK 1 ; BERNARDO 1 ; SALCEDO 1 ; DELLA FERA 1
HBP: BLACK 2
PO: GAY 1
Batting:
2B: Garzillo, Mike 1
RBI: Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Elson, John 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1 ; Faust, Connor 3 ; McKay, Tim 1
SH: Garzillo, Mike 1
SF: Abeln, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Elson, John 2 ; Abeln, Joe 1 ; Faust, Connor 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; McKay, Tim 1 ; Rinaldi, Anthony 1 ; Kozemchak, Matt 1
SB: Elson, John 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1
HBP: Abeln, Joe 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
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
