Wednesday, March 15
Babson Park, FL - Webber International Univ.
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
3-9
4
vs
0
North Dakota State University
7-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
4
5
1
North Dakota State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
Stoudt, Long Ball Power Lehigh Past North Dakota State
3/15/2017 3:07:00 PM | Baseball
BABSON PARK, Fla. – Lehigh ended its spring break trip to Florida on a winning note with a 4-0 victory over North Dakota State on Wednesday afternoon in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
The Mountain Hawks (3-9) had a sensational pitching performance from freshman Levi Stoudt, who went 7.0 innings and surrendered five hits, just one extra-base hit, while striking out 11 batters. The Bison (7-10) managed to put just three runners in scoring position with Stoudt on the mound as the right-hander forced seven groundouts and three fly outs. Stoudt is the first Lehigh pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts since Peter Moore had a 10-strikeout performance on Mar. 30, 2016 in a 6-3 win over Saint Peter's.
The Lehigh offense, which was held to just five hits on the day, received a big lift from Jacen Nalesnik, who made the most of his opportunities. The big righty accounted for the only runs of the game through the first eight innings as he hit solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings. The senior led the team with two hits as he finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
"Levi was outstanding today. He was in total command from the first batter," said head coach Sean Leary. "Nalesnik stepped up and put offense on his back today. We were struggling to get runners on and Jacen took matters into his own hands with two home runs."
Senior clean-up man Patrick Donnelly accounted for the other two runs in the game and gave Lehigh some breathing room with a two-run shot in the ninth to extend the lead to 4-0. Donnelly's homer knocked in James Bleming, who had led off the inning with a single. Donnelly finished 1-for-4 on the day with two RBI and a run scored, while Bleming went 1-for-4 with one run.
This is the fifth multi-home run game of the season (12 games) for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks finished with just six in all of last season. Nalesnik now has three-multi home run games for his career as he has 13 total career home runs. Donnelly's two home runs this season brings his career total to 12.
Ethan Frohman bounced back from a tough outing on Sunday and returned with a stellar relief appearance on Wednesday. The sophomore was lights out in the final 2.0 innings and sealed the victory for LU as he retired all six batters he faced to earn the save.
After completing a 1-4 spring break trip to Florida against a full slate of tough competitors, the Mountain Hawks will look to ride the high of Wednesday's victory as they return north for a three-game weekend. Lehigh is scheduled to begin play at Seton Hall's Strikeout Cancer Classic on Friday at 12 p.m. against Manhattan, followed by a Saturday matchup against Brown and finishing with a Sunday showdown against the host Pirates.
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates and content.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stoudt, Levi (1-2)
L: Harm (0-1)
S: Frohman, Ethan (1)
Batting:
HR: Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1
RBI: Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bleming, James 1 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 2 ; Donnelly, Patrick 1
Batting:
2B: Pierzchalski 1
Base Running:
SB: Fearing 1
HBP: Fearing 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball3B
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballBaseball vs. Coppin State
Tuesday, April 29
Baseball vs. Penn
Wednesday, March 19
Baseball vs. UAlbany
Sunday, March 16
Season Preview Baseball
Thursday, February 13
