Garzillo breaks career doubles in Monday doubleheader against Holy Cross

Monday, April 11

12 p.m.

Lehigh University

12-20, 0

Holy Cross

13-20, 0

Holy Cross

Lehigh

Garzillo breaks career doubles in Monday doubleheader against Holy Cross

4/11/2016 7:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After 22 innings of baseball and nearly seven hours of play, it was Holy Cross that was able to walk away with a pair of wins over the Lehigh baseball team Monday afternoon at Legacy Park. The Crusaders earned a 5-4 win in the 13-inning opener thanks to a game-winning solo home run before claiming the nightcap 12-2. Lehigh falls to 12-21 overall and 2-6 in league play, while Holy Cross improves to 14-20 overall and 5-3 against Patriot League opponents.

"We competed very well in the first game," said head coach Sean Leary. "We didn't give up a run for a good period of time and Ethan Frohman was outstanding in relief, but we have to punch a run across. We had the opportunities and that's something we need to work on."

Senior Mike Garzillo set a new Patriot League and Lehigh career doubles record in the sixth inning of the day's nightcap when he sent his 57th career double to left field. Garzillo broke the previous record of 56 doubles that was held by former Lehigh standout Matt McBride and Bucknell's Bob Donato.

Sophomore James Bleming led Lehigh offensively with a 6-for-10 showing at the plate, two doubles and a home run in the two games combined. Garzillo and junior David Young both went 3-for-6 at the dish, while junior Patrick Donnelly recorded four hits and three RBI. Freshman Ethan Frohman threw the final five one-run innings in the 13-inning marathon.

Holy Cross got on the board first in the day's first game, which was scheduled for seven innings of regulation, as a leadoff double from Nick Lovullo was followed by a Lehigh error and RBI single from Anthony Critelli, but Lehigh senior starter Kevin Long was able to strand two Crusaders in scoring position to limit the damage and keep the score at 1-0.

The Mountain Hawks were able to tie the game in the bottom of the second as Donnelly and Young opened the frame with back-to-back base hits before a Connor Donovan walk that was followed by a Holy Cross throwing error allowed Donnelly to run home and knot the score at 1-1 through two. Long hurled a scoreless second and third innings before junior Jacen Nalesnik led off the bottom of the third by drawing a base on balls and Bleming followed with a single through the left side. Garzillo laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position before Donnelly smoked a sacrifice fly to the warning track to score Nalesnik and put Lehigh ahead 2-1.

Following a scoreless fourth inning, Holy Cross used a pair of RBI doubles to plate three runs in the top of the fifth and jump ahead 4-2 in the top of the fifth. Lehigh was able to get a run back in the bottom of the frame as Bleming knocked a two-out single before Garzillo was hit by a pitch. Donnelly then sent an RBI base hit up the middle to pull the Mountain Hawks within 4-3 before Holy Cross reliever Joe Cravero came on to record the final out of the inning.

Donovan took the mound in relief of Long one batter into the sixth inning and kept the Crusaders off the board in the sixth and seventh frames, including getting a big strikeout to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth to keep the Holy Cross lead at just one heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Nalesnik opened the last half inning of regulation with a single to center field before moving to second on a Bleming sacrifice bunt. Following a Garzillo walk, Donnelly sent his third RBI base hit of the game to center field to score Nalesnik and tie the game at 4-4. Cravero was then able to work around a one-out, two-on jam to send the day's opener to extra innings.

The teams then found themselves locked in a sudden pitchers' duel as freshman Ethan Frohman and Holy Cross' Sean Gustin and Capen combined to throw five scoreless frames. Frohman gave up just two hits in his first 4.1 innings until the game-winning solo home run from Bobby Indeglia was sent over the left center fence to put the Crusaders ahead 5-4. Garzillo was able to get a two-out single off Capen in the bottom of the 13th inning, but that was all for the Mountain Hawks as Holy Cross earned the 5-4, 13-inning victory.

The Mountain Hawks were able to score in the bottom of the first of the day's second game, a nine-inning affair, as singles from Bleming, Garzillo and Young gave Lehigh a quick 1-0 lead. Junior starter Matt Kozemchak kept the Crusaders off the board for the first two innings until a two-run double from Bill Schlich put Holy Cross ahead 2-1 in the top of the third. Schlich then added a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to extend the Holy Cross lead to 5-1.

Lehigh was able to get a run back in the bottom of the sixth as Garzillo led off the frame with his record-breaking 57th career double before Donnelly followed with a single and Young sent a sacrifice fly to right field. The Crusaders then answered with an unearned run in the top of the seventh to go back up by four at 6-2 before a using a pair of three-run home runs in the eighth inning to jump ahead 12-2. A solo home run from Bleming got a run back in the bottom of the eighth, but it was nearly enough as Holy Cross walked away with the 12-3 win.

Kozemchak suffered the loss after allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on six hits with four strikeouts in five innings. Holy Cross pitcher Pat McGowan picked up the win.

The Mountain Hawks remain home Tuesday to close out a six-game homestand against Rider at 3:30 p.m. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.

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