Saturday, April 25
Easton, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
Lafayette
Mountain Hawks head to rival Lafayette looking to secure postseason berth
4/24/2015 9:37:00 AM | Baseball
Free Video | Live Stats | The Rivalry: Lehigh-Lafayette
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team will head down the road this weekend to take on archrival Lafayette in the final regular-season Patriot League series of the season. Both teams will be aiming to lock up postseason spots and doubleheaders will begin at 12 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free video of all four games will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Lehigh currently sits in third place in the Patriot League standings with a 9-7 league record, while Lafayette follows right behind in fourth with an 8-8 Patriot League mark. Both the Mountain Hawks and Leopards only need one win this weekend to secure a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh trails first-place Holy Cross by two games and second-place Navy by one game in the Patriot League standings, but would win any tiebreaker over both the Crusaders and the Mids.
The Mountain Hawks dropped a 7-6, 10-inning non-league game at Rider Tuesday, but were able to sweep a Sunday doubleheader against Navy to earn a series split with the Mids over the weekend. A game-winning two-run home run from sophomore Patrick Donnelly backed a complete-game effort from senior starting pitcher Nick Stephens to help Lehigh to a 3-2 win in Sunday's opener before junior reliever Kevin Boswick fired 7.2 scoreless innings in the nightcap to help the Mountain Hawks to a 5-4 victory.
Junior Mike Garzillo leads Lehigh with a .372 batting average that ranks second in the league. His .600 slugging percentage and six home runs lead the Patriot League. Senior Justin Pacchioli holds a .336 batting average and league-leading .494 on-base percentage. Pacchioli has reached base in 50 consecutive games dating back to last season and is one of only three Division I players to have reached base in every game he's played in this season. Senior Tim McKay holds the third-best batting average on the team with a mark of .292. Garzillo leads Lehigh with 35 RBI, while Donnelly (24) and sophomore Jacen Nalesnik (23) follow.
Junior Kevin Long (1-1, 8.62 ERA) will get the starting nod in game one at Lafayette, while senior J.R. Edwards (0-3, 3.86 ERA) will handle game two. Stephens (3-4, 4.03 ERA) and fellow senior Nick Macaione (2-4, 2.96 ERA) will toe the rubber in games three and four, respectively. Stephens leads the team with three wins during Patriot League play, while Macaione follows with two. Boswick has been exceptional out of the bullpen as of late, not allowing a run in his last 14.2 innings while striking out 14 batters and walking just one.
Lafayette carries a 10-19-1 overall record into this weekend's series including an 8-8 mark in league play. The Leopards were swept by Holy Cross to open the league slate before Lafayette swept Army. The team then dropped three of four at Navy before winning three of four at Bucknell. Campbell Lipe led the way for the Leopards in their 3-1 series win over Bucknell to earn Patriot League Player of the Week recognition. Lipe went 7-for-13 (.538) with four doubles, four runs scored and three RBI against the Bison.
The Leopards are hitting .258 as a team, led by Michael Coniglio's mark of .310. Steven Cohen (.298) and Tyler Hudson (.293) follow. Alex Woinski has recorded a team-best 17 RBI, while Coniglio has scored a squad-high 17 runs. The Leopards will rely on the starting pitching David Bednar (2-5, 2.40 ERA), John Cain (0-2, 4.30 ERA), Toby Schwartz (2-3, 4-32 ERA) and Ari Kaufman (1-0, 3.38 ERA). Connor McMahon leads the Leopards' bullpen with four saves.
Lehigh took three of four games from Lafayette during last year's series in Bethlehem. The Mountain Hawks swept Saturday's doubleheader (7-2, 4-2) before dropping Sunday's opener 2-1 and rebounding with a 5-1 victory in the series finale. Prior to Lehigh's series victory last season, the previous three series between the two rivals have all been split.
Probable pitching matchups for this weekend are listed below:
Game 1: RHP Kevin Long vs. RHP David Bednar
Game 2: RHP J.R. Edwards vs. LHP John Cain
Game 3: RHP Nick Stephens vs. LHP Toby Schwartz
Game 4: LHP Nick Macaione vs. LHP Ari Kaufman
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team will head down the road this weekend to take on archrival Lafayette in the final regular-season Patriot League series of the season. Both teams will be aiming to lock up postseason spots and doubleheaders will begin at 12 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free video of all four games will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Lehigh currently sits in third place in the Patriot League standings with a 9-7 league record, while Lafayette follows right behind in fourth with an 8-8 Patriot League mark. Both the Mountain Hawks and Leopards only need one win this weekend to secure a spot in the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh trails first-place Holy Cross by two games and second-place Navy by one game in the Patriot League standings, but would win any tiebreaker over both the Crusaders and the Mids.
The Mountain Hawks dropped a 7-6, 10-inning non-league game at Rider Tuesday, but were able to sweep a Sunday doubleheader against Navy to earn a series split with the Mids over the weekend. A game-winning two-run home run from sophomore Patrick Donnelly backed a complete-game effort from senior starting pitcher Nick Stephens to help Lehigh to a 3-2 win in Sunday's opener before junior reliever Kevin Boswick fired 7.2 scoreless innings in the nightcap to help the Mountain Hawks to a 5-4 victory.
Junior Mike Garzillo leads Lehigh with a .372 batting average that ranks second in the league. His .600 slugging percentage and six home runs lead the Patriot League. Senior Justin Pacchioli holds a .336 batting average and league-leading .494 on-base percentage. Pacchioli has reached base in 50 consecutive games dating back to last season and is one of only three Division I players to have reached base in every game he's played in this season. Senior Tim McKay holds the third-best batting average on the team with a mark of .292. Garzillo leads Lehigh with 35 RBI, while Donnelly (24) and sophomore Jacen Nalesnik (23) follow.
Junior Kevin Long (1-1, 8.62 ERA) will get the starting nod in game one at Lafayette, while senior J.R. Edwards (0-3, 3.86 ERA) will handle game two. Stephens (3-4, 4.03 ERA) and fellow senior Nick Macaione (2-4, 2.96 ERA) will toe the rubber in games three and four, respectively. Stephens leads the team with three wins during Patriot League play, while Macaione follows with two. Boswick has been exceptional out of the bullpen as of late, not allowing a run in his last 14.2 innings while striking out 14 batters and walking just one.
Lafayette carries a 10-19-1 overall record into this weekend's series including an 8-8 mark in league play. The Leopards were swept by Holy Cross to open the league slate before Lafayette swept Army. The team then dropped three of four at Navy before winning three of four at Bucknell. Campbell Lipe led the way for the Leopards in their 3-1 series win over Bucknell to earn Patriot League Player of the Week recognition. Lipe went 7-for-13 (.538) with four doubles, four runs scored and three RBI against the Bison.
The Leopards are hitting .258 as a team, led by Michael Coniglio's mark of .310. Steven Cohen (.298) and Tyler Hudson (.293) follow. Alex Woinski has recorded a team-best 17 RBI, while Coniglio has scored a squad-high 17 runs. The Leopards will rely on the starting pitching David Bednar (2-5, 2.40 ERA), John Cain (0-2, 4.30 ERA), Toby Schwartz (2-3, 4-32 ERA) and Ari Kaufman (1-0, 3.38 ERA). Connor McMahon leads the Leopards' bullpen with four saves.
Lehigh took three of four games from Lafayette during last year's series in Bethlehem. The Mountain Hawks swept Saturday's doubleheader (7-2, 4-2) before dropping Sunday's opener 2-1 and rebounding with a 5-1 victory in the series finale. Prior to Lehigh's series victory last season, the previous three series between the two rivals have all been split.
Probable pitching matchups for this weekend are listed below:
Game 1: RHP Kevin Long vs. RHP David Bednar
Game 2: RHP J.R. Edwards vs. LHP John Cain
Game 3: RHP Nick Stephens vs. LHP Toby Schwartz
Game 4: LHP Nick Macaione vs. LHP Ari Kaufman
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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