Sunday, March 8
Port Charlotte, Fla.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
3-2
9
vs
2
Saint Joseph's
1-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Saint Joseph's
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
2
5
2
Lehigh
0
3
0
1
4
1
0
0
X
9
9
1
Mountain Hawks split on first day of Spring Break trip
3/8/2015 10:45:00 PM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Lehigh baseball team earned a 9-2 win against Saint Joseph's to open its eight-game Spring Break trip before falling in a tight 5-3 battle to St. Bonaventure in the nightcap of a non-traditional doubleheader Sunday afternoon at the Snowbird Classic. Junior Anthony Rinaldi went 4-for-4 at the plate with a home run and five RBI in the day's first game to compliment the strong pitching performances of junior Kevin Long and senior J.R. Edwards.
"We're getting better every game and I feel like we're definitely advancing as a team," said head coach Sean Leary. "Kevin and J.R. competed very well in game one and Rinaldi had a terrific day. We've lost some close games this season, but have had a lot of positives come out of that and I know the guys are excited to get back out there tomorrow."
After a scoreless first inning in the day's first game against Saint Joseph's, senior Connor Faust and sophomore David Young led off the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles. Rinaldi stepped up to rope a two-run triple before scoring on a wild pitch a batter later to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-0 lead after two. Lehigh tacked on a run in the fourth after Rinaldi scored Faust with an RBI single.
The Mountain Hawks continued the offense in the bottom half of the fifth as junior Mike Garzillo smacked a leadoff double before coming home on a St. Joe's error. Senior John Elson stole home before Rinaldi struck again, this time with a two-run home run, as the Mountain Hawks took an 8-1 lead through five.
Long, who got the starting nod on the mound against the Hawks, only allowed two hits through his first five innings of work. Edwards was brought on in relief of Long after St. Joe's John Brue singled in the top of the sixth. Matt Maul recorded an RBI single to score Brue and give the Hawks their first run of the day, but the deficit would be too large to overcome as Lehigh was able to secure a 9-2 victory.
Long earned his first win of the season with a line of one run on three hits and seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. Edwards recorded the 3.2-inning save and only allowed one run on two hits while fanning four.
St. Bonaventure struck right away in the day's second game as RBI singles from Tyler Bell and Tyler Kirwan gave the Bonnies a 3-0 lead after the top half of the first. Lehigh got a run back in the bottom half of the frame after senior Justin Pacchioli was hit by a pitch, stole second and third and was brought home by an RBI groundout from Garzillo.
Lehigh starter Nick Macaione settled in the rest of the way, not allowing another run until the fourth inning when a Brad Gresock double gave the Bonnies a 4-1 advantage. Lehigh pulled within one after putting up a two spot in the bottom half of the fifth. Sophomore Connor Donovan scored on a passed ball before an RBI single from Garzillo drove home sophomore John Scarr to narrow the St. Bonaventure lead to 4-3 through five.
Junior Brandon Kulp came in to pitch the final five innings of the contest. The Bonnies added an insurance run in the seventh, which would prove to be the only run Kulp would surrender. Lehigh couldn't get its offense going as St. Bonaventure starter Steven Klimek and closer Aaron Phillips kept the Mountain Hawks scoreless the rest of the way and captured the 5-3 win for the Bonnies.
Macaione suffered the loss and finished with a line of four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits with three strikeouts in four innings of work. Kulp allowed just one run on four hits in five innings. Klimek earned the win for St. Bonaventure.
Lehigh returns to action at the Snowbird Classic Monday at 10 a.m. against St. Bonaventure.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Long, Kevin (1-0)
L: PALLANTE, Tyler (0-2)
S: Edwards, J.R. (1)
Batting:
2B: BRUE, John 1
RBI: MAUL, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BRUE, John 2
CS: STAFFORD, Deon 1
Batting:
2B: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2
3B: Rinaldi, Anthony 1
HR: Rinaldi, Anthony 1
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Rinaldi, Anthony 5
SH: Elson, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 3 ; Young, David 1 ; Rinaldi, Anthony 2
SB: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 1
HBP: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Faust, Connor 2
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
4
RBI
5
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
3
H
1
RBI
0
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