Saturday, May 2
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
20-25
9
vs
3
DeSales
25-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
DeSales
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
3
6
3
Lehigh
3
3
0
1
0
0
1
1
X
9
11
0
Leary captures 400th career win in doubleheader sweep of DeSales
5/2/2015 5:58:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team used its offensive power and strong pitching to pick up 9-3 and 18-1 wins over DeSales in non-league action Saturday at Legacy Park. Head Coach Sean Leary captured the 400th win of his career with the day's first win. Fifteen Mountain Hawks recorded hits in the day's two games, while 11 knocked in runs as Lehigh outscored DeSales 27-4.
"We had a pretty good practice week this week and talked about having a solid approach today," said Leary. "We executed well and hit some balls hard one through nine in the lineup. We were able to get some of our younger guys in in the second game and they really swung the bat well. We've been clicking well lately and I'm proud of the team today."
Sophomore Connor Donovan led the way with a 5-for-7 showing at the plate, five runs scored and five RBI, including a grand slam in the day's second game. Junior Mike Garzillo also knocked in five runs, while senior Justin Pacchioli went 4-for-6 at the plate with three RBI and four runs scored. Sophomore Jacen Nalesnik recorded five hits on the day to go along with three RBI and two runs scored. Starting pitchers junior Kevin Long and senior J.R. Edwards picked up the wins on the mound.
The Mountain Hawks got on the board right away in the day's first game when Pacchioli and Nalesnik led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back bunt singles. Garzillo then sent his eighth home run of the season over the left-center fence to give Lehigh an early 3-0 lead.
Lehigh doubled its advantage in the second when senior Patrick Walshe smoked a leadoff double before advancing to third on a bunt single from senior Tim McKay and crossing the plate on a throwing error. Pacchioli singled to right before an RBI base hit through the left side off the bat of Nalesnik was followed by a sacrifice fly from sophomore Patrick Donnelly to give the Mountain Hawks a 6-0 lead through two.
Long limited DeSales to just one hit through the first four innings before Lehigh added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a Garzillo RBI single to center that scored Pacchioli to extend the Mountain Hawk advantage to 7-0.
DeSales was able to put up two runs in the sixth inning following an RBI triple from Mike Kacergis and sacrifice fly from Colby Kulig as the Bulldogs cut Lehigh's lead to 7-2. Garzillo led off the bottom of the seventh inning with an infield single before stealing second and scoring on a pair of throwing errors. Donovan opened the eighth inning with a double before coming home on an RBI base hit from junior Anthony Rinaldi as Lehigh took a 9-2 lead through eight.
Senior Jordan Smith pitched the final three innings of the game for the Mountain Hawks, and limited the Bulldogs to just two hits and one run to secure the three-inning save, 9-3 game-one win and Leary's 400th career win.
Edwards sat the Bulldogs down in order to open the day's second game before Lehigh put together a big bottom half of the inning. The Mountain Hawks sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs on eight hits. Donovan hit a grand slam, his first career home run, to highlight the big frame while Garzillo and Pacchioli also recorded RBI to give Lehigh a 7-0 lead through one.
The Bulldogs plated an unearned run in the second inning, but Lehigh answered right back in the bottom of the frame when an RBI base hit from Elson scored Donnelly and the Mountain Hawks controlled an 8-1 lead. Lehigh added four runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a Rinaldi RBI hit by pitch and Pacchioli RBI walk that was followed by two-run single up the middle from Nalesnik.
Senior Nick Stephens took the mound in the fifth in relief of Edwards as the starter finished with an impressive line of one unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts in four innings of work. Stephens limited the Bulldogs to just one hit through two innings before junior Brandon Kulp took the mound in the seventh.
An RBI double from Faust plated another Lehigh run in the fifth before RBI from Donovan, sophomore John Scarr and freshman Drew LaMotte gave Lehigh a 16-1 lead through seven. Freshman James Bleming knocked in a pair of runs in the eighth before Kulp and junior Kevin Boswick shut down the DeSales bats and Lehigh captured the 18-1 win.
Second-seeded Lehigh will have a week off from game action before hosting No. 3 Holy Cross in the Patriot League semifinals next weekend at Legacy Park. A Saturday doubleheader will begin at 12 p.m. and Sunday's if-necessary game will start at 1 p.m. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Long, Kevin (2-1)
L: Steven Wallace (4-3)
S: Smith, Jordan (3)
Batting:
3B: Mike Kacergis 1
HR: Danny Licamara 1
RBI: Mike Kacergis 1 ; Colby Kulig 1 ; Danny Licamara 1
SF: Colby Kulig 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hunter Hart 1 ; Mike Kacergis 1 ; Danny Licamara 1
SB: Hunter Hart 1
CS: Carlos Urena 1
HBP: Mike Kacergis 1
Batting:
2B: Donovan, Connor 1 ; Walshe, Patrick 1
HR: Garzillo, Mike 1
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 4 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1 ; Rinaldi, Anthony 1
SH: Faust, Connor 1
SF: Donnelly, Patrick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pacchioli, Justin 3 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; Donovan, Connor 1 ; Walshe, Patrick 1 ; McKay, Tim 1
SB: Pacchioli, Justin 2 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Garzillo, Mike 2 ; McKay, Tim 1
HBP: Pacchioli, Justin 1 ; Elson, John 1 ; Young, David 1
PO: Young, David 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
ph/1b
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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