Friday, May 16
Lewisburg, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
25-23
4
vs
5
Bucknell
28-17-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lehigh
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
4
5
0
Bucknell
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
3
X
5
11
1
Mountain Hawks fall in Patriot League Championship series
5/16/2014 6:34:00 PM | Baseball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team suffered a pair of tough losses in the Patriot League Championship series at Bucknell Friday at Depew Field. Bucknell broke open a 2-2 tie in the day's first game with a three-run bottom of the eighth before a late Lehigh rally fell just short and the Bison picked up a 5-4 series-opening win. The Bison bats came up big in the second game as Bucknell clinched the championship with a 7-2 victory.
"I'm proud of this team despite the result," said head coach Sean Leary. "We played a very good team today and we've done what we've done all season long: fight until the end."
Seniors Nick Cassell and Tyler Brong and junior Justin Pacchioli were named to the All-Tournament team following their performances during the two-series tournament. The Mountain Hawks finish the season as the Patriot League runners up with a 25-24 overall record.
Lehigh took big strides in 2014, advancing to its first Patriot League Tournament since 2010 and first Patriot League Championship Series since 2006. Highlights included a four-game sweep over Holy Cross and taking two-of-three against defending league champion and co-regular season champion Army to win the semifinal series.
The Mountain Hawks got on the board right away in the day's first game as Pacchioli sent a single over the first baseman's head. Sophomore Mike Garzillo grounded into a fielder's choice, but senior Joe Abeln followed with a shot down the left field line that went deep into the corner as Garzillo ran home and put Lehigh on the board. Brong followed with a double to right center to send Abeln home and give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 lead through the top half of the first.
Sam Clark started the Bison off with a single up the middle to begin the second inning before Justin Meier followed with a base hit through the left side. A two-run double to left from Danny Rafferty followed as the Bison tied the contest at two. Lehigh starting pitcher Colin Gotzon settled down to get three quick outs and limit the damage.
Gotzon issued back-to-back walks and suffered an injury to open the third inning before sophomore Kevin Long took the mound in relief. Long struck out Rob Krentzman before McKay caught Mayer taking too big of a lead off first as the Mountain Hawks got two quick outs. Long followed with a strikeout of Clark to keep Lehigh out of trouble.
The Bison continued to threaten and loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with one out. Long got Bucknell's leading hitter Anthony Gingerelli to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and keep the score knotted at two heading into the seventh. Bucknell starting pitcher Bryson Hough settled down after the first inning and didn't allow another hit through the seventh as he retired 20 straight Mountain Hawks.
After Long recorded his career-high ninth strikeout in the bottom of the seventh, freshman Patrick Donnelly sent a single through the right side to record Lehigh's first hit since the opening inning to lead off the eighth, but Hough retired the next three Mountain Hawks to keep Bucknell out of trouble.
Meier opened the bottom of the eighth with a double to right center before Rafferty drew a walk and Greg Wasikowski moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Brett Smith sent a single up the middle to bring home Meier and Rafferty and give the Bison a 4-2 lead. An RBI fielder's choice from Joe Ogren followed as the Bison took a 5-2 lead into the top of the ninth.
Abeln reached base on an error with one out before Brong sent a double down the left field line to score Abeln and narrow the Bison lead to two at 5-3 as Xavier Hammond took the mound to relieve Hough. Brong scored on a passed ball to make it 5-4, but Hammond got Elson and Faust to fly out to right field as the Bison picked up the 5-4 game one win.
Hough earned the win for the Bison with a line of four runs, two of which were earned, and five hits in 8.1 innings of work. Hammond earned the save. Long suffered the loss despite throwing a strong six innings with a career-high nine strikeouts.
After a scoreless first three innings in game two, Smith sent a fly ball to right field that senior Brandon Wilt misread as it sailed over his head and Smith ended up at third. The Bison loaded the bases with no outs before Krentzman sent a single to center and drove home Bucknell's first run. Clark followed with a sacrifice fly to score Gingerelli before a two-out two-run double from Alex O'Neill extended the Bison lead to 5-0 through the top of the fourth.
Cassell took the mound in the fifth to relieve starter Mike Burke and kept the Bison off the board until an RBI groundout from Rafferty extended the Bucknell lead to 6-0 in the top of the sixth.
The Bison used a sacrifice fly to add another run in the seventh as Weigel continued to shut down the Mountain Hawk bats. Lehigh put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom half of the seventh before Faust was able to score on a throwing error by Bucknell's catcher. Freshman Jacen Nalesnik drew a walk to put runners on first and second before Pacchioli sent a shot to right field to score Donnelly and cut Bucknell's lead to 7-2 through seven.
Senior Joey McNamara took the mound in the eighth and left the Bison scoreless for the final two innings, but the Mountain Hawk bats were stifled by relief pitcher Tom Hrabchack and Hammond as Bucknell claimed the 7-2 win and earned their first Patriot League Championship since 2010.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hough (8-3)
L: Long, Kevin (4-5)
S: Hammond (3)
Batting:
2B: Abeln, Joe 1 ; Brong, Tyler 2
RBI: Abeln, Joe 1 ; Brong, Tyler 2
SH: McKay, Tim 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Abeln, Joe 2 ; Brong, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Ogren 1 ; Meier 1 ; Rafferty 1
RBI: Smith 2 ; Ogren 1 ; Rafferty 2
SH: Wasikowski 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith 1 ; Clark 1 ; Meier 2 ; Rafferty 1
SB: Ogren 1
HBP: Mayer 1
PO: Mayer 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
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