Wednesday, April 9
Ambler, Pa.
3:00 PM
Lehigh University
3
at
2
Temple
Mountain Hawks grind out 3-2 extra-inning win at Temple
4/9/2014 7:14:00 PM | Baseball
AMBLER, Pa – The Lehigh baseball team trailed 2-0 heading into the seventh inning at Temple, but worked its way back to a 2-2 tie to send the game into extra innings before scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth to secure a 3-2 victory Wednesday afternoon at Temple's Skip Wilson Field. The Mountain Hawks move to 13-14 with the win, the second straight for Lehigh, while Temple falls to 9-16 overall.
"Our bullpen did a great job," said head coach Sean Leary. "We strung the game together with a number of pitchers and a number of guys went out there and threw the ball pretty well, especially late in the ball game. A number of guys pitched well with the game on the line, and that's something to build momentum off of."
A strong legion of Lehigh arms held Temple scoreless for the final nine innings of the game as senior Nick Cassell picked up the win and sophomore Brandon Kulp claimed his first save of the season. Junior Patrick Walshe got Lehigh's first hit of the game in the seventh inning and joined freshman Jacen Nalesnik and senior Tyler Brong as one of three Mountain Hawks to record an RBI.
"Offensively, we struggled for the first part of the game, but we went back to the basics and managed to scratch three across," said Leary. "Pat is a guy who we know will give us his best effort when we put him out there. His double in the seventh was a momentum turner for our guys in the dugout."
Reyn Sugai was hit by a pitch in Temple's first at-bat before a single to left from Daniel Dragos put runners on first and second with no outs. An RBI double from Robert Amaro scored Temple's first run before Dragos scored on a wild pitch and the Owls took a 2-0 lead through one.
Lehigh starting pitcher Matt Kozemchak calmed down over the next two innings, retiring six-straight batters while fanning two. Classmate David Young took the mound in the fourth and kept the Owls scoreless over the next two innings while allowing just two hits.
The Mountain Hawks had trouble getting the bats going until Walshe ripped a double into center with one on and one out in the seventh. Nalesnik followed with sacrifice fly to right field that scored freshman John Scarr as Lehigh cut Temple's lead to 2-1. Juniors Nick Stephens and Nick Macaione each threw a scoreless inning to keep the Mountain Hawks in the hunt.
Senior Joey McNamera took the mound in the bottom of the eighth. Temple loaded the bases, but junior John Elson made a strong defensive play on a grounder up the middle to get the Mountain Hawks out of the jam and send the game into the top of the ninth.
Nalesnik reached first on an error on Temple's first baseman with one out in the top of the ninth. Freshman Patrick Donnelly sent a single into center before Brong stepped in to pinch hit. Brong smoked a ball through the left side as Nalesnik sprinted home and Lehigh tied the game at two.
Cassell took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and got out of trouble to send the game into extra innings. Abeln was hit by a pitch to lead off and eventually advanced to third on a sac bunt from Faust and groundout from Scarr. Walshe hit a hard grounder as Temple's first baseman made an error and Abeln ran home scoring the go-ahead run.
Kulp took the mound in the bottom half of the tenth and retired the Owls in order to record his first save of the season and secure the 3-2 win for the Mountain Hawks.
Temple pitcher Zach White suffered the loss.
The Mountain Hawks return home this weekend to host Holy Cross in a four-game Patriot League series. Doubleheaders will be played both Saturday and Sunday with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. Free audio broadcasts of all four games will be available via Lehighsports.com.
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