Lehigh University Athletics
Sunday, April 30
Bethlehem, PA
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
20-25, 8-11
16
vs
3
Army
22-26, 9-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Army West Point
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
3
7
1
Lehigh
2
2
2
3
0
7
X
16
16
0
Army Comeback in Game Two Ends Lehigh Postseason Hopes
4/30/2017 7:43:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Needing two wins over Army entering the day, the Mountain Hawks set themselves up for a win and in situation in game two following a decisive 16-3 victory in game one. In game two, Lehigh held a 5-4 four lead with six outs remaining, but for the second day in row, the Black Knights found late inning magic and scored four runs in the final two frames to earn an 8-5 win. Army finishes two games ahead of Lehigh in the Patriot League standings qualifies for the postseason to prevent the Mountain Hawks from advancing to their fourth-straight Patriot League Tournament.
Playing in his final home series, senior David Young was an offensive juggernaut for Lehigh (20-26, 8-12) on the day as he finished with a total of eight RBI in Sunday's doubleheader. He hit two home runs on the day, along with two doubles and did not strikeout once as he finished a combined 5-for-8 at the plate.
After Army (23-26, 10-10) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one, it was all Lehigh after that. The Mountain Hawks scored in fourth-straight innings to build up a 9-2 lead through four innings. The Black Knights got one back in the fifth, but LU posted seven runs in the six to put the lead out of reach.
Lehigh hit five doubles in game one, led by Patrick Donnelly who hit two in the game. The senior finished 3-for-4 in game one with a season-high four RBI to go along with two runs scored. Jacen Nalesnik finished tied with James Bleming for the team lead in game one as they each scored three runs.
Levi Stoudt started game one and settled in after getting touched up in the first inning for two runs on three hits. The freshman tossed 6.0 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.
The Mountain Hawks struck first in game two with Young's second homer of the day. The Black Knights did not let the early deficit spoil their performance as they put up three runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead. A Lehigh senior came through once again with a clutch hit as Nalesnik hit a two-run blast off the top of the scoreboard in left field to tie the game 3-3 through three innings.
Lehigh regained the lead in the fourth when yet another senior, Connor Donovan, came up with a big contribution. Donovan went deep to straightaway center to put LU ahead 4-3. The home run by Donovan extended his career-best single-season total to eight and also produced Lehigh's 50th homer of the season.
Army tied the game once more with a tally in the fifth inning, but another key hit and another RBI for Young had Lehigh back in the lead in the sixth inning.
Following a scoreless seventh inning for both teams, Lehigh was once again staring at a one-run lead with six outs to go for the second day time in two days. Instead of waiting until the ninth inning, this time Army did most of the damage in the eighth inning by putting three runs on the board. Yesterday's hero, Matt Hudgins, started the scoring rally with a solo homer in the eight. The right fielder added another RBI in the ninth to extend the Army lead to three runs.
Lehigh had the heart of the lineup up to start the eighth inning and Nalesnik led off with a double. The Black Knights turned to yesterday's stopper, Sam Messina, to stifle Lehigh once again. After walking his first batter, Messina forced a foul out and posted a strikeout before getting out of the inning with a fly out to work out of a bases-loaded jam. Messina returned to pitch the ninth and held Lehigh hitless to clinch the victory for Army and end LU's playoff aspirations.
Entering the day with their backs against the wall and the possibility of not reaching the Patriot League tournament for the first time in their careers, the Lehigh seniors nearly willed their team to two wins on Sunday. The seniors accounted for 16 of the team's 23 hits on the day and 14 of Lehigh's 21 runs. Additionally, all four of Lehigh's home runs on the day were hit by seniors. Many of the seniors posted their best performances of the season this past weekend and can walk away knowing they gave it everything they had.
The Mountain Hawks have four games remaining before wrapping up the 2017 campaign. Lehigh will head to Saint Peter's on Wednesday for one final midweek contest before traveling to Longwood for a three-game weekend set beginning on Saturday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stoudt, Levi (4-5)
L: Opp, Cam (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Hurtubise, Jacob 1 ; Rosoff, Jon 1 ; Hudgins, Matt 1
RBI: Rosoff, Jon 1 ; Hudgins, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hurtubise, Jacob 1 ; Rosoff, Jon 1 ; McCarthy, John 1
CS: Rosoff, Jon 1
HBP: Hudgins, Matt 1 ; Saldivar, Baggio 1
Batting:
2B: Bleming, James 1 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2 ; Young, David 1 ; Donovan, Connor 1
HR: Young, David 1
RBI: Kersey, Chris 1 ; Bleming, James 3 ; Donnelly, Patrick 4 ; Young, David 6 ; Donovan, Connor 1
SH: Hand, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kersey, Chris 2 ; Bleming, James 3 ; Nalesnik, Jacen 3 ; Donnelly, Patrick 2 ; Young, David 2 ; Donovan, Connor 1 ; Rinaldi, Anthony 1 ; Shanfeldt, Jeff 2
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
6
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
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