Tuesday, April 21
Lawrenceville, N.J.
3:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-24
6
at
7
Rider
16-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
2
1
0
0
2
0
1
0
6
7
0
Rider
1
0
0
2
1
0
1
0
1
1
7
11
2
Mountain Hawks fall in extra-inning battle at Rider
4/21/2015 7:14:00 PM | Baseball
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – The Lehigh baseball team came out on the short end of a back-and-forth, extra-inning battle at Rider Tuesday afternoon as the Broncs tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and then plated the game-winning run in the tenth to earn a 7-6 victory.
Senior Tim McKay went 2-for-2 at the plate after entering late in the game, while sophomore Jacen Nalesnik also recorded two hits. Sophomore Patrick Donnelly led the squad with two RBI.
The Broncs got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Nick Richter drew a leadoff walk before moving to second on a balk and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Justin Thomas followed with an RBI groundout to give Rider a 1-0 lead.
Lehigh answered in the third inning when sophomore David Young sent a leadoff single to left field before freshman James Bleming drew a base on balls. A sacrifice bunt from freshman Ryan Bonshak moved the two runners over a base before a Rider error on a grounder from senior Justin Pacchioli allowed Young to cross the plate and tie the game. Nalesnik followed with a single to left to bring home Bleming and give the Mountain Hawks a 2-1 lead.
Lehigh added a run in the fourth when Rider starting pitcher Paul Sparano issued three-straight walks before a sacrifice fly from Bleming extended the Mountain Hawk advantage to 3-1. RBI from Patrick Murphy and Tyler Kaiser allowed Rider to even the score at three in the bottom of the fourth inning before another Broncs run in the fifth gave Rider a 4-3 lead. Young took the mound in relief of freshman starter Mark Washington, who finished with a line of four runs on six hits with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
A Pacchioli walk, Nalesnik double and Mike Garzillo walk loaded the bases for Lehigh with one out in the top of the seventh. Donnelly followed with a two-run base hit to left to put the Mountain Hawks on top, 5-4.
Young kept the Broncs hitless for his first 1.2 innings before a two-out double helped Rider knot the score at five in the bottom of the seventh. After a scoreless eighth, Garzillo led off the ninth with a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error. Senior John Elson followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give Lehigh a 6-5 lead.
Young retired the first two Broncs he faced in the bottom of the ninth, but a two-out walk was followed by an RBI single from James Locklear as Rider rallied to tie the game once again at 6-6. Sophomore Connor Donovan took the mound to record the last out of regulation and send the game into extra innings.
A single from senior Tim McKay was all Lehigh could get off Rider reliever Eric Thomas in the top of the tenth. The Broncs put two runners aboard in the bottom of the tenth following a walk and a single before an RBI base hit from Eric Strano scored the game-winning run and gave Rider the 7-6, 10-inning victory.
Lehigh returns to action this weekend when the Mountain Hawks head to archrival Lafayette for the final regular-season Patriot League series. Both teams are one win away from securing a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. Doubleheaders will be played both Saturday and Sunday and free video will be available for all four games.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eric Thomas (1-0)
L: Donovan, Connor (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Nalesnik, Jacen 1
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2 ; Elson, John 1 ; Bleming, James 1
SH: Bleming, James 1 ; Bonshak, Ryan 1
SF: Elson, John 1 ; Bleming, James 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Young, David 1 ; Bleming, James 1
SB: Garzillo, Mike 1
CS: Garzillo, Mike 1
Batting:
2B: James Locklear 1 ; Justin Thomas 1
RBI: James Locklear 2 ; Justin Thomas 2 ; Patrick Murphy 1 ; Tyler Kaiser 1 ; Eric Strano 1
SF: James Locklear 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Richter 2 ; James Locklear 2 ; Patrick Murphy 1 ; Mike Parsons 1 ; Jordan Leinweber 1
SB: Nick Richter 1 ; James Locklear 1
HBP: Patrick Murphy 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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