Sunday, April 13
Goodman Campus
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
16-14, 0
6
vs
5
Holy Cross
10-22, 0
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6
7
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Holy Cross
0
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Lehigh
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6
11
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Mountain Hawks complete series sweep of Holy Cross with two wins Sunday
4/13/2014 6:10:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa – The Lehigh baseball team completed its first Patriot League series sweep since 2010 as the Mountain Hawks picked up 6-5 and 15-3 wins over Holy Cross Sunday afternoon on the Goodman Campus Baseball Field. Lehigh has now won a season-high six straight games to improve to 17-14, 7-4 in league play and 7-1 at home. Holy Cross falls to 10-23 overall and 3-7 in the Patriot League.
"I'm proud of the seniors," said head coach Sean Leary. "They led the whole way, on the mound and in the field. All four games were a great collective team effort.
"We'll try to build off the fact that we were in some close games and saw some quality pitching," continued Leary. "We found ways to win. Today, we hit very well. We'll enjoy this for a day or two and then turn our focus to Navy next weekend."
Sophomore Kevin Long picked up the win on the mound in the day's first game, a seven-inning contest, while senior Nick Cassell closed out the game to grab his fifth save of the season. Senior relief pitcher Joey McNamara was awarded the win in the day's second game, a nine-inning contest, to help Lehigh to its first Patriot League sweep since April 10-11, 2010 when the Mountain Hawks took four from Lafayette.
"It was a hitter's day and our pitchers went out there and did their jobs," said Leary. "Joey really changed the momentum of the game. They were starting to creep back in it and he got us out of a crucial inning before we were able to extend the lead."
Sophomore Mike Garzillo led Lehigh offensively with a 6-for-8 showing at the plate, three extra-base hits, four RBI and four runs scored in the two games combined. Freshman Patrick Donnelly went 4-for-6 with three RBI, while junior Justin Pacchioli had a 4-for-7 showing at the dish with three runs scored. Nine Mountain Hawks recorded hits in the two games, while eight separate Lehigh players tallied RBI.
The Mountain Hawks got on the board right away in the day's opening game as Garzillo ripped a double into left field. Senior Joe Abeln followed with a single up the middle before classmate Tyler Brong smacked a base hit through the left side to score Garzillo. Junior Connor Faust followed with an RBI single to center before Donnelly roped a two-out RBI double to right-center as the Mountain Hawks took a 3-0 lead.
The Crusaders got two back in the second inning on a two-run homer from Connor Perry, but Long fanned the final two batters to limit the damage. Lehigh extended its lead in the bottom half of the second inning on a two-run triple off the bat of Garzillo that scored Pacchioli and senior Brandon Wilt and gave Lehigh a 5-2 lead.
An RBI single to center from Donnelly put the Lehigh advantage at 6-3 in the fifth before Holy Cross pulled within one in the sixth on a two-run triple from Bill Schlich. Cassell took over on the mound for Long as the starter finished with a line of five runs, nine hits and six strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.
With Lehigh's lead at 6-5 heading into the seventh, Cassell struck out the first two batters he faced before forcing a groundout as the Mountain Hawks picked up the win.
Long moved to 4-1 with the win, while Holy Cross starter Donny Murray suffered the loss after surrendering five runs on eight hits in 1.1 innings.
Lehigh picked up where it left off in the series finale as the Mountain Hawks put four on the board in the bottom half of the first thanks to an RBI triple from Garzillo, a wild pitch and a two-run home run off the bat of junior John Elson. After a scoreless second inning, Lehigh plated five more in the third with RBI from Donnelly, Elson and McKay as the Mountain Hawks took a 9-0 advantage.
A lead-off homerun from Brandon Cipola put a run on the board for the Crusaders in the fourth, before an RBI single up the middle from Bobby Indeglia made it 9-2 in the fifth. Holy Cross loaded the bases in the fifth before Lehigh starter Nick Stephens struck out Cipolla and McNamara was brought on to pitch. The senior fanned a batter before forcing a flyout as Abeln made a diving catch in left field to keep Lehigh out of trouble.
Lehigh added six more runs in the fifth before McNamara and junior Nick Macaione combined to allow just one run on three hits in the final three innings of the game.
McNamara improved to 2-0 with the win after firing 3.2 innings with one run and three hits. Stephens finished a solid outing with two runs on six hits in 4.1 innings. Holy Cross starter Nate Walker surrendered seven runs on eight hits in two innings of work to suffer the loss. The Crusaders used eight pitchers in the contest.
Lehigh remains home Tuesday to host UMES for a non-league doubleheader beginning at noon. The Mountain Hawks resume league play next weekend at Navy.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Long, Kevin (4-1)
L: Donny Murray (2-4)
S: Cassell, Nick (5)
Batting:
2B: Andrew Barry 2
3B: Bill Schlich 1
HR: Connor Perry 1
RBI: Jack St.Clair 1 ; Connor Perry 2 ; Bill Schlich 2
SH: Brandon Cipolla 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Evan Ocello 1 ; Jack St.Clair 1 ; Connor Perry 2 ; Andrew Barry 1
SB: Evan Ocello 1
HBP: Jack St.Clair 1
PO: Evan Ocello 1
Batting:
2B: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1
3B: Garzillo, Mike 1
RBI: Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Brong, Tyler 1 ; Faust, Connor 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2
SH: McKay, Tim 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Abeln, Joe 1 ; Brong, Tyler 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Wilt, Brandon 1
SB: Elson, John 1
CS: Donnelly, Patrick 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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