Sunday, May 10
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
23-26
7
vs
1
No. 3 Holy Cross
24-26
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Holy Cross
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
3
0
Lehigh
3
0
1
1
0
0
0
2
X
7
9
2
Lehigh wins semifinal game three, 7-1, to advance to Patriot League Championship
5/10/2015 3:31:00 PM | Baseball, Tickets
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A dominant complete-game pitching performance from senior starter Nick Stephens propelled the Lehigh baseball team to a 7-1 win over Holy Cross in the decisive game three of the Patriot League Semifinals Sunday afternoon at Legacy Park. The Mountain Hawks punch their ticket to their second-straight Patriot League Championship series with the win. Lehigh will travel to top-seeded Navy for a best-of-three championship series next Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) May 16-17.
"We didn't want to change much from yesterday and we rode Nick's momentum today," said head coach Sean Leary. "Nick threw one of the best games I've seen. We did well offensively today and hit some long balls that were able to put up some runs quickly."
Stephens allowed just one unearned run on three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in a complete-game effort. Junior Mike Garzillo hit two home runs in the win to complement a 2-for-4 showing at the plate. Senior John Elson and sophomore Patrick Donnelly also hit long balls in the victory. A total of eight Mountain Hawks recorded hits in a balanced offensive attack.
Stephens sat the Crusaders down in order in the top of the first before Lehigh got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Senior Justin Pacchioli sent a leadoff single to right field before stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. It marked Pacchioli's 28th stolen base of the season, a new Lehigh single-season record and now makes the senior the owner of both the single-season and career stolen base records. Sophomore Jacen Nalesnik then singled up the middle to score Pacchioli before Garzillo took the first pitch of his at bat and sent it over the left center fence to give Lehigh an early 3-0 lead.
The Mountain Hawks added two more runs in the third and fourth innings. Elson sent a two-out home run to right in the third to move Lehigh's advantage to 4-0. Senior Connor Faust knocked an infield single to open the bottom of the fourth before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior Tim McKay. Freshman James Bleming followed with an RBI single to right to make it 5-0 Lehigh.
Garzillo led off the bottom of the eighth with his second home run of the day to left center before Donnelly sent the first pitch of his at bat over the right field fence and Lehigh extended its lead to 7-0.
Besides one hit in the top of the second, Stephens rendered the Crusaders hitless until the ninth inning. Holy Cross scored a run on two hits in the top of the ninth, but Stephens was able to earn the complete-game win, his fourth victory of the season, and the 7-1 decision for Lehigh.
The second-seeded Mountain Hawks travel to top-seeded Navy next Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) for a best-of-three Patriot League Championship series.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stephens, Nick (4-5)
L: Ben White (4-5)
Batting:
RBI: Evan Ocello 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nick Lovullo 1
Batting:
HR: Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Elson, John 1
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 3 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Bleming, James 1
SH: McKay, Tim 1 ; Bleming, James 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Faust, Connor 1
SB: Pacchioli, Justin 1
CS: Elson, John 1
HBP: Walshe, Patrick 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
SS
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