Lehigh claims pair of walk-off wins to earn Sunday sweep of preseason favorite Bucknell

Sunday, April 5

12 p.m.

Lehigh University

7-18, 0

Bucknell

15-13, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Bucknell	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0
Lehigh	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	3	7	1

Lehigh claims pair of walk-off wins to earn Sunday sweep of preseason favorite Bucknell

4/5/2015 5:54:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team rallied for a pair of walk-off wins Sunday afternoon at Legacy Park to sweep a doubleheader from defending Patriot League champion Bucknell and earn a 3-1 series win. The Mountain Hawks sent game one to extra innings in the bottom of the seventh before a walk-off walk from senior Tim McKay secured a 3-2 win. Lehigh then erased a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth of game two as a walk-off single from senior Justin Pacchioli secured a 7-6 win.

(4/5/2015) Baseball vs. Bucknell, 4/5/15

"It was great to see our guys battle back twice in late-inning situations and we had great senior leadership all around," said head coach Sean Leary. "We put it in the seniors' hands this weekend and they came through big time. Bucknell has some of the best pitching we'll see all year, so to scrap and get three wins out of this weekend is huge."

The 3-1 series win over Bucknell marks the first time Lehigh earned a series win over the Bison since 2010. Lehigh improves to 4-4 in league play with the weekend results.

Junior Mike Garzillo led Lehigh offensively with a 5-for-7 showing at the plate and hit for a cycle in the two games combined with two RBI and four runs scored. Senior Patrick Walshe followed with a 5-for-8 effort that included a home run. Senior pitchers Nick Stephens and Jordan Smith earned the wins on the mound.

Neither team recorded a hit until the third inning of the day's first game, a seven-inning contest, as starting pitchers Stephens and Andrew Andreychik quickly flew through the first two innings. The Bison struck first in the top of the third as a Lehigh error was followed by a walk and a single to load the bases. Jon Mayer followed with a two-run double to right to put the Bison ahead 2-0.

Lehigh threatened in the bottom half of the frame with runners on the corners and two outs, but Andreychik recorded a strikeout to get out of trouble. Stephens retired the next nine batters he faced before Garzillo smacked a home run over the right field fence to open the sixth inning and pull Lehigh within one at 2-1.

Stephens made quick work of the Bison once again in the seventh to get the Mountain Hawks back to the plate. Freshman James Bleming led off the bottom of the frame with a single through the right side before a sacrifice bunt from McKay moved him to second. Junior Anthony Rinaldi followed with a base hit to right to put runners on the corners with one out. Following a Lehigh groundout, Andreychik bounced a wild pitch that allowed Bleming to score the tying run and send the game into extra innings.

The Bison threatened in the top of the eighth with two baserunners, but Stephens fanned a pair of batters before getting a groundout to keep the game knotted at two. Garzillo sent a shot through the left side to open the bottom of the eighth before a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Patrick Donnelly moved Garzillo to second. Senior Connor Faust was intentionally walked before Mike Stephens replaced Andreychik on the mound. Walshe then knocked an infield single to load the bases. After a Lehigh strikeout, McKay drew a walk-off walk to score Garzillo and give Lehigh the 3-2 extra-inning win.

Stephens earned his first win of the season after finishing with a strong line of two runs, neither of which were earned, on four hits with seven strikeouts in a complete-game, eight-inning effort. Andreychik suffered the loss.

Bucknell was able to put up five runs in the first inning of the day's second game, a nine-inning affair. Nalesnik roped a one-out double to get Lehigh going in the bottom half of the frame before Garzillo smoked an RBI triple. Garzillo then came home on a Donnelly groundout to narrow Bucknell's lead to 5-2 through one inning.

Sophomore reliever Connor Donovan retired the next five Bison batters before a Lehigh error and RBI single from Danny Rafferty added another Bucknell run in the top of the third to make it 6-2. Donovan kept the Bison off the board for the rest of his outing, which ended with two outs in the sixth when he gave way to Smith, but Lehigh wasn't able to get anything else off of Bucknell starter Mike Castellani until the bottom of the sixth.

Garzillo sent a one-out double to left to open the frame before Donnelly took the first pitch of his at bat and sent it straight over the right field fence to pull the Mountain Hawks within two at 6-4. Smith allowed just one hit and struck out five Bison the rest of the way to send the game into the bottom of the ninth with the same score.

Walshe sent a one-out dinger over the right field fence to narrow the Bison lead to 6-5. Sophomore pinch hitter David Young was hit by a pitch before McKay knocked an infield single and Bucknell finally ousted its starter and brought on Jordan Holtz. Holtz walked Rinaldi and threw two balls to Pacchioli before Max Kra took the mound. Kra worked a full count on Pacchioli before the senior ripped a single up the middle to score pinch runner Chris Kersey and McKay and send Lehigh home with its second walk-off win of the day, 7-6.

Smith earned the win after shutting down the Bison bats for the final 3.1 innings. He allowed just one hit and no runs with five strikeouts. Castellani suffered the loss.

Next up, Lehigh heads to Saint Peter's Tuesday before hosting the Peacocks Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks will then travel to Holy Cross next weekend to resume Patriot League play.

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