Saturday, April 25
Easton, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
16-24, 0
5
at
4
Lafayette
10-20-1, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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H
E
Lehigh
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
5
7
2
Lafayette
0
3
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0
0
0
0
4
5
2
Mountain Hawks take two at Lafayette Saturday to secure spot in Patriot League Tournament
4/25/2015 5:50:00 PM | Baseball
EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team used five home runs and strong pitching performances to help secure 5-4 and 4-2 wins at archrival Lafayette Saturday at Kamine Stadium. Lehigh officially clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the second-straight year and moves to 11-7 in league play with the results, while the Leopards fall to 8-10 in the Patriot League.
"We didn't take anything for granted and we had to make sure we secured the playoff spot and worry about taking care of ourselves," said head coach Sean Leary. "Our pitchers competed very well today and kept us in the game. The story of the day was our clutch hitting and clutch home runs."
Senior Justin Pacchioli broke Lehigh's career stolen bases record in game one while junior reliever Kevin Boswick secured saves in both of the day's games. Five different Mountain Hawks hit home runs during the two games as senior Connor Faust hit the game-winning dinger in game one and three of Lehigh's four runs in game two were by way of the long ball. Sophomore Jacen Nalesnik went 4-for-7 at the plate with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored to lead the Lehigh offense. Game one starter junior Kevin Long earned the win on the mound, while junior reliever Brandon Kulp picked up the win in game two.
"To get career records means you've had an outstanding four years, and Justin has contributed a lot to this program," said Leary of Pacchioli's stolen base record. "The stolen base record is the one he deserves the most. He gets on base and changes the game and I'm so proud of his development."
The Mountain Hawks put their first three runners on base in the day's first game, a seven-inning contest, as Pacchioli reached on a Lafayette error before Nalesnik was hit by a pitch. The two Mountain Hawks executed a double steal as Pacchioli picked up the 59th stolen base of his career to tie Lehigh's school record, but was then thrown out at home when trying to advance on the throw to second. Junior Mike Garzillo drew a base on balls before a fielder's choice from sophomore Patrick Donnelly moved Nalesnik to third. With senior John Elson up to bat, Donnelly got himself in a rundown attempting to steal second, which distracted the Leopards enough for Nalesnik to run home and put the Mountain Hawks ahead 1-0.
Long kept Lafayette off the board in the bottom of the first inning before Elson sent a leadoff home run over the left field fence to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead. The Leopards got on the board in the bottom of the second when Steven Cohen sent a two-out, three-run home run over the center field fence to put Lafayette in front 3-2 through two.
Nalesnik opened the third inning with a one-out single to left before a fielding error on a Garzillo grounder put runners on first and second. Donnelly then smoked a single down the left field line to score Nalesnik and tie the game at three.
A solo home run from Tyler Hudson put the Leopards right back on top by one in the bottom of the third. Following a scoreless fourth inning, Pacchioli opened the fifth with a single up the middle before stealing the record-setting 60th stolen base of his career to move into sole possession of the all-time record. Nalesnik followed with a single to right center that easily scored Pacchioli and tied the game at four.
Long kept the Leopards off the board for the fourth and fifth frames before a two-out, solo home run from Faust put the Mountain Hawks back on top, 5-4, in the sixth. Long recorded the first two outs of the bottom half of the frame before Boswick came on in relief and struck out the final Leopard to send the game to the seventh. Long finished with a line of four runs on five hits with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work to earn the win.
Boswick got three-straight groundouts in the bottom of the seventh to secure the save, 5-4 game-one win and Lehigh's spot in the Patriot League Tournament.
Senior starter J.R. Edwards kept the Leopards hitless for the first two innings of the day's second game, a nine-inning contest. Nalesnik and Garzillo put the first two runs of the game on the board when the two Mountain Hawks smoked back-to-back two-out, solo home runs in the bottom of the third inning.
The Leopards got a run back in the bottom of the third, but Edwards worked his way out of a bases loaded jam to limit the damage and keep Lehigh ahead 2-1. Following a scoreless fourth inning, the Leopards were able to score an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at two.
Edwards was relieved by Kulp in the bottom of the sixth as the starter finished with a line of two runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits in 5.2 innings of work. The Leopards turned to their bullpen in the fifth frame, and Lehigh wasn't able to get anything off Alex Farina until Donnelly sent a one-out, solo homer to left to give Lehigh a 3-2 lead.
Kulp cruised until a walk and an infield single put two Leopards on base with one out in the eighth. Boswick took over from there and caught Brett Thompson looking before senior catcher Tim McKay fired down to second to catch a Leopard stealing to end the threat and send the game into the ninth inning with Lehigh still ahead 3-2.
Faust opened the top of the ninth with an infield single before a throwing error allowed him to take second. A McKay sacrifice bunt moved him to third before a wild pitch allowed Faust to score an insurance run and give the Mountain Hawks a 4-2 advantage.
Boswick then retired the Leopards in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure his second save of the day and help Lehigh to the 4-2 win and doubleheader sweep.
Lehigh and Lafayette wrap up their four-game series Sunday at Kamine Stadium with a doubleheader slated to begin at 12 p.m. Free video of both games will be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Long, Kevin (2-1)
L: Bednar, D. (2-6)
S: Boswick, Kevin (1)
Batting:
HR: Elson, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 1
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; Elson, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 1
SB: Pacchioli, Justin 2 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1
CS: Garzillo, Mike 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1
HBP: Nalesnik, Jacen 1
Batting:
3B: Thompson, B. 1
HR: Cohen, S. 1 ; Hudson, T. 1
RBI: Cohen, S. 3 ; Hudson, T. 1
SH: Kramer, J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cohen, S. 1 ; Hudson, T. 1 ; Hills, P. 1 ; Thompson, B. 1
SB: Cohen, S. 1
HBP: Thompson, B. 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
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