Sunday, April 6
Lewisburg, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
11-14, 2-4
1
at
9
Bucknell
16-11-1, 7-0
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7
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Lehigh
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Bucknell
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9
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Lehigh deals Bucknell first league loss in Sunday split
4/6/2014 5:31:00 PM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team snapped Bucknell's eight-game win streak while handing the Bison their first Patriot League loss of the season as the Mountain Hawks picked up a 4-2 victory in the nightcap of a Sunday doubleheader at Bucknell's Depew Field. The Bison claimed the first game of the day, 9-1. The Mountain Hawks move to 3-4 in the league and 12-14 overall, while the Bison move to 7-1 in the league and 16-12-1 overall after winning the series 3-1.
"Things didn't go well so our guys had to respond and come back," said head coach Sean Leary. "Every win matters and it was really big heading into next weekend. We'll hope to gain some momentum from this."
The pitching duo of sophomore Kevin Long and senior Nick Cassell were strong on the mound in Lehigh's win, frustrating the red-hot Bison bats to allow just two runs. Junior Connor Faust combined to go 5-for-7 at the plate during the two games with two RBI and three stolen bases. Junior Justin Pacchioli had a 4-for-7 showing at the dish.
"Kevin and Nick both stepped up and gave us exactly what we needed today with really strong outings," said Leary. "Connor really led by example and had a fantastic day."
The Mountain Hawks got on the board first in the day's second game, a nine-inning affair, as senior Tyler Brong drew a leadoff walk in the second inning. A sacrifice bunt from junior John Elson advanced Brong to second before Faust roped a single to right field to score Brong and put the Mountain Hawks up 1-0.
Two innings later, Faust led off with a single through the left side before he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and stole third base. Senior Brandon Wilt singled to center to score Faust as the Mountain Hawks took a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Long, Lehigh's starting pitcher, kept the Bison scoreless through three until an RBI triple off the bat of Anthony Gingerelli drove home Bucknell's first run of the game. In the bottom of the fifth, an RBI groundout from Joe Ogren tied the contest at two. Cassell came on to relieve Long in the sixth inning, as the sophomore finished his strong outing with two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings.
Cassell kept the Bison scoreless through two before Lehigh was able to take the lead in the top of the eighth. Elson reached base on a fielder's choice before Faust continued his impressive day with a single through the right side that moved Elson to third. An error from Bucknell's first baseman allowed Elson and Faust to come home as the Mountain Hawks took a 4-2 lead.
The Bison put two runners on with no outs in the bottom half of the frame, but Cassell sat the next three batters down in order to keep Lehigh out of trouble. The senior dealt a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth as the Mountain Hawks picked up a big 4-2 win.
Cassell earned the win after a scoreless 3.2 innings of work. Bucknell's Xavier Hammond suffered the loss.
After a scoreless inning in the day's first game, a seven-inning contest, the Bison put five on the board in the second inning with RBI from five different players before adding three more in the third. Lehigh starting pitcher senior Colin Gotzon was lifted from the game following the third inning after allowing eight runs on six hits in three innings.
Junior Nick Macaione and freshman Matt Kozemchak combined to throw two scoreless innings for the Mountain Hawks in the fifth and sixth frames. Brong singled to left-center to lead off the top of the seventh before Elson reached on a fielder's choice and later stole second. Faust ripped a double down the left field line to score Elson as the Mountain Hawks snapped Bucknell starting pitcher Andrew Andreychik's 26.1 scoreless-inning streak. It wasn't enough as the Bison picked up their eighth straight win by a score of 9-1.
Andreychik claimed the win after throwing a complete seven innings and surrendering one run on five hits. Gotzon suffered the loss.
The Mountain Hawks head to Temple Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the second round of the Liberty Bell Classic. Lehigh returns home next weekend for a four-game series against Holy Cross.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Andreychik (4-2)
L: Gotzon, Colin (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Faust, Connor 2
RBI: Faust, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elson, John 1
SB: Elson, John 1
Batting:
2B: Gingerelli 1 ; Krentzman 1 ; Wasikowski 1
RBI: Smith 1 ; Furman 1 ; Krentzman 1 ; Clark 2 ; Meier 1 ; Rafferty 2 ; Wasikowski 1
SF: Furman 1 ; Rafferty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ogren 2 ; Gingerelli 2 ; Krentzman 2 ; Meier 1 ; Rafferty 1 ; Wasikowski 1
CS: Smith 1
HBP: Ogren 1 ; Gingerelli 1 ; Krentzman 1 ; Clark 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
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