Lehigh University Athletics
Saturday, April 18
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Navy
Mountain Hawks host Navy in final league home series this weekend
4/17/2015 1:34:00 PM | Baseball
Free video | Live Stats
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team will play its final regular-season Patriot League home series this weekend when the Mountain Hawks host Navy for four games at Legacy Park in a battle of two of the top three teams in the league standings. Doubleheaders will be played both Saturday and Sunday with first pitches slated for noon. The program's eight seniors will be honored on Senior Day before Saturday's opener and free video of all four games will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Lehigh sits one game out of first place in the Patriot League standings with a 7-5 league mark, while Navy and Holy Cross are tied for the top spot (8-4). The winner of the Lehigh-Navy series could clinch a postseason berth depending on other league results from the weekend.
The Mountain Hawks have won eight of their last 11 games and are coming off a 7-4 win over Coppin State Wednesday. Lehigh used a two-run home run from sophomore Jacen Nalesnik to take the lead in the fifth inning before freshman Mark Washington and junior Brandon Kulp kept the Eagles scoreless for the final five innings. The Mountain Hawks took three of four in a road series at first-place Holy Cross last weekend. Lehigh erased an 8-1 deficit with the help of a game-tying grand slam from senior Patrick Walshe in game one that propelled the Mountain Hawks to a 9-8, extra-inning win in the series opener. Lehigh scored in four innings of game two and out-hit the Crusaders 12-4 to back the strong pitching performances of seniors Nick Macaione and Jordan Smith in the 8-4 victory. Lehigh scored eight runs in the third inning of game three before holding off a late Holy Cross charge to earn a 10-9 victory in game three as senior starter Nick Stephens picked up the win and sophomore Connor Donovan secured his first-career save. The Crusaders were able to walk off with a 2-1 win in the bottom of the ninth inning of the series finale to salvage the final contest and avoid a series sweep.
The Mountain Hawks are hitting .272 as a team during Patriot League play and .254 for the season. Junior Mike Garzillo holds a team-best .380 batting average and leads the Patriot League with a .589 slugging percentage. Senior Justin Pacchioli follows with a .350 batting average and leads the league with 20 stolen bases and a .503 on-base percentage that ranks 18th in the nation. Senior Tim McKay has tallied a team-best .375 batting average during Patriot League play, while Garzillo (.372), senior John Elson (.324) and Walshe (.323) follow.
Macaione (2-3, 2.68 ERA) and fellow seniors J.R. Edwards (0-2, 3.86 ERA) and Nick Stephens (2-4, 4.35 ERA) have all been strong starters for the Mountain Hawks. Smith leads the team with two saves, while Kulp, Donovan and sophomore David Young have each secured one.
The Mids carry a 27-13 overall record and 8-4 league mark into this weekend's series. Navy opened its Patriot League schedule with a sweep of Bucknell before dropping three of four at Holy Cross. The Mids claimed a 3-1 home series over Lafayette last weekend. Navy earned a 2-1, extra-inning win in game one behind the strong pitching performance of Luke Gillingham and walk-off RBI single from Robert Currie. The Leopards battled back to claim game two of the series, 11-8, but Navy came back to sweep Sunday's doubleheader. The Mids grabbed a 3-2, 12-inning win in game three before securing the series victory with an 8-6 win in the finale.
Navy leads the Patriot League in both batting average (.289) and ERA (3.12), but both those marks have dropped in league play as the Mids have hit .258 and hold an ERA of 3.67 in their 12 Patriot League contests. Sean Trent leads the league with a .429 batting average and has knocked in a team-best 32 RBI. Currie follows with a .351 mark and 31 RBI, while Travis Blue has scored a squad-high 35 runs.
The Mids pitching staff is led by game one starter Gillingham (6-1, 1.08 ERA) who leads the nation with 92 strikeouts. Navy has started George Coughlin (4-3, 5.06 ERA), Stephen Moore (4-1, 2.89 ERA) and Kyle Condry (1-3, 4.39 ERA) in games two through four, respectively, for every league series so far this season. Sam Sorenson (2-5, 2.34 ERA) leads the team with three saves, while Jett Meenach (7-0, 1.00 ERA) has secured two.
The Mids have won the last ten games between Lehigh and Navy and hold a 70-38 advantage in the all-time series.
Following this weekend's series, Lehigh will head to Rider for a non-league game Tuesday before taking on archrival Lafayette next weekend in the final regular-season league series.
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team will play its final regular-season Patriot League home series this weekend when the Mountain Hawks host Navy for four games at Legacy Park in a battle of two of the top three teams in the league standings. Doubleheaders will be played both Saturday and Sunday with first pitches slated for noon. The program's eight seniors will be honored on Senior Day before Saturday's opener and free video of all four games will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Lehigh sits one game out of first place in the Patriot League standings with a 7-5 league mark, while Navy and Holy Cross are tied for the top spot (8-4). The winner of the Lehigh-Navy series could clinch a postseason berth depending on other league results from the weekend.
The Mountain Hawks have won eight of their last 11 games and are coming off a 7-4 win over Coppin State Wednesday. Lehigh used a two-run home run from sophomore Jacen Nalesnik to take the lead in the fifth inning before freshman Mark Washington and junior Brandon Kulp kept the Eagles scoreless for the final five innings. The Mountain Hawks took three of four in a road series at first-place Holy Cross last weekend. Lehigh erased an 8-1 deficit with the help of a game-tying grand slam from senior Patrick Walshe in game one that propelled the Mountain Hawks to a 9-8, extra-inning win in the series opener. Lehigh scored in four innings of game two and out-hit the Crusaders 12-4 to back the strong pitching performances of seniors Nick Macaione and Jordan Smith in the 8-4 victory. Lehigh scored eight runs in the third inning of game three before holding off a late Holy Cross charge to earn a 10-9 victory in game three as senior starter Nick Stephens picked up the win and sophomore Connor Donovan secured his first-career save. The Crusaders were able to walk off with a 2-1 win in the bottom of the ninth inning of the series finale to salvage the final contest and avoid a series sweep.
The Mountain Hawks are hitting .272 as a team during Patriot League play and .254 for the season. Junior Mike Garzillo holds a team-best .380 batting average and leads the Patriot League with a .589 slugging percentage. Senior Justin Pacchioli follows with a .350 batting average and leads the league with 20 stolen bases and a .503 on-base percentage that ranks 18th in the nation. Senior Tim McKay has tallied a team-best .375 batting average during Patriot League play, while Garzillo (.372), senior John Elson (.324) and Walshe (.323) follow.
Macaione (2-3, 2.68 ERA) and fellow seniors J.R. Edwards (0-2, 3.86 ERA) and Nick Stephens (2-4, 4.35 ERA) have all been strong starters for the Mountain Hawks. Smith leads the team with two saves, while Kulp, Donovan and sophomore David Young have each secured one.
The Mids carry a 27-13 overall record and 8-4 league mark into this weekend's series. Navy opened its Patriot League schedule with a sweep of Bucknell before dropping three of four at Holy Cross. The Mids claimed a 3-1 home series over Lafayette last weekend. Navy earned a 2-1, extra-inning win in game one behind the strong pitching performance of Luke Gillingham and walk-off RBI single from Robert Currie. The Leopards battled back to claim game two of the series, 11-8, but Navy came back to sweep Sunday's doubleheader. The Mids grabbed a 3-2, 12-inning win in game three before securing the series victory with an 8-6 win in the finale.
Navy leads the Patriot League in both batting average (.289) and ERA (3.12), but both those marks have dropped in league play as the Mids have hit .258 and hold an ERA of 3.67 in their 12 Patriot League contests. Sean Trent leads the league with a .429 batting average and has knocked in a team-best 32 RBI. Currie follows with a .351 mark and 31 RBI, while Travis Blue has scored a squad-high 35 runs.
The Mids pitching staff is led by game one starter Gillingham (6-1, 1.08 ERA) who leads the nation with 92 strikeouts. Navy has started George Coughlin (4-3, 5.06 ERA), Stephen Moore (4-1, 2.89 ERA) and Kyle Condry (1-3, 4.39 ERA) in games two through four, respectively, for every league series so far this season. Sam Sorenson (2-5, 2.34 ERA) leads the team with three saves, while Jett Meenach (7-0, 1.00 ERA) has secured two.
The Mids have won the last ten games between Lehigh and Navy and hold a 70-38 advantage in the all-time series.
Following this weekend's series, Lehigh will head to Rider for a non-league game Tuesday before taking on archrival Lafayette next weekend in the final regular-season league series.
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
1B/P
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
SS
/ Baseball
2B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
P/IF
/ BaseballBaseball vs. Coppin State
Tuesday, April 29
Baseball vs. Penn
Wednesday, March 19
Baseball vs. UAlbany
Sunday, March 16
Season Preview Baseball
Thursday, February 13
