Tuesday, April 18
Bethlehem, PA
3 p.m.
Lehigh University
12-24
7
vs
5
Iona College
12-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Iona
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
1
5
14
0
Lehigh
0
1
1
1
0
0
2
2
X
7
9
2
Mountain Hawks Hold Off Gaels for Midweek Win
4/18/2017 8:32:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh captured its second-straight midweek victory on Tuesday with a 7-5 win over Iona at J. David Walker Field.
The Mountain Hawks (12-24) made the most of their offensive opportunities as they needed just nine total hits to score their seven runs. Scoring in consecutive innings from the third through the fourth ended up being crucial for LU because it built up an early lead in what was a lack-luster offensive game for either side through the first half of the game.
Jeff Shanfeldt and David Young were both instrumental in the early scoring as both players posted solo home runs. Shanfeldt and Young led the team with two runs each on the day and produced Lehigh's 12th multi-home run game of the season, doubling the total from last season.
Iona (12-14) was held in check through the first four innings as the Gaels managed to record just four total hits with no runs. Iona broke through offensively in the fifth with two runs on two hits, highlighted by a leadoff home run Joe DeMaio.
Iona's offensive woes early on were due to a solid pitching performance by Matt Ratner who started for Lehigh and tossed the first 5.0 innings. The right-hander worked out of a few jams and limited the damage as he surrendered just one earned run on six hits while striking out six batters.
The Gaels took a brief lead after a two-run seventh inning performance, but the Mountain Hawks responded in the bottom of the seventh with two runs of their own to regain the lead. Lehigh worked up some breathing room by posting two more runs in the eighth inning. Connor Donovan accounted for both runs with a two-run triple to straightaway center field. Donovan led the team on the day with a 3-for-4 performance with a run scored and a team-high two RBI.
Iona scored a run in the ninth on a two-out rally and then proceeded to load the bases down just two runs. Sam Ashey bared down and worked out of the jam following a sensational diving stop by Patrick Donnelly at third base who managed to throw the runner out at first from his knees.
Ashey recorded his first win of the season as he threw the final 2.2 innings. The lefty surrendered just one run on two hits with three walks against 15 batters.
The Mountain Hawks face a big Patriot League series coming up on the weekend with a trip to Easton to face rival Lafayette in four-game set.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ashey, Sam (1-2)
L: Pucillo (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Matarazzo 1 ; Furman 1 ; DeMaio 1
HR: DeMaio 1
RBI: Switalla 1 ; Matarazzo 1 ; DeMaio 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Byrne 1 ; Kinsey 1 ; Switalla 1 ; Hoagland 1 ; DeMaio 1
SB: Byrne 2 ; Kinsey 3 ; Scales 1 ; DeMaio 1
CS: Kinsey 1
HBP: Byrne 2
Batting:
2B: Kersey, Chris 2
3B: Donovan, Connor 1
HR: Shanfeldt, Jeff 1 ; Young, David 1
RBI: Kersey, Chris 1 ; Shanfeldt, Jeff 1 ; Young, David 1 ; Donovan, Connor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kersey, Chris 1 ; Shanfeldt, Jeff 2 ; Young, David 2 ; Donovan, Connor 1 ; Gallo, Tony 1
CS: Kersey, Chris 1 ; Bleming, James 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
2b/1b
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
3B
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