Saturday, April 8
Worcester, MA
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
10-17, 0
2
at
0
Holy Cross
8-18, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
4
0
Holy Cross
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Stellar Outing by Donovan Leads Lehigh to Saturday Split
4/8/2017 9:10:00 PM | Baseball
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Mountain Hawks picked up a much needed 2-0 victory in game one at Holy Cross in Saturday's doubleheader to break a three-game slump and put a tally in the Patriot League win column. Lehigh battled hard in game two, but could not pull off the Saturday sweep over the Patriot League preseason favorite as the Crusaders claimed an 8-1 victory.
Lehigh (10-18, 2-4) rode the momentum in game one created by starting pitcher Connor Donovan who pitched a complete game shutout. The senior hurler surrendered just four hits and one walk while he racked up a career-high seven strikeouts.
The Mountain Hawks had a promising start to game two by tallying a run in the first inning, but LU only managed two more hits through the remaining eight innings. The Crusaders (9-18, 3-3) were held in check throughout most of the game until a six-run eighth inning broke open a seven-run lead and was ultimately enough to seal the victory.
"Donovan was outstanding from start to finish. We needed a step-up performance and he was certainly up to that challenge," said head coach Sean Leary. "We competed very hard all day. I really like our effort and focus. If we continue to pitch this competitively, we are a couple of hits away from some positive results tomorrow."
Neither team lit up the scoreboard in game one as both starting pitchers went the distance and showed great command. Lehigh was able to manufacture a run in the third as Ryan Malloy lead off with an infield single and put himself in scoring position as he stole second. James Bleming laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Malloy to third and Matt Hand to second, which set the table for Patrick Donnelly who advanced Malloy home on a sacrifice fly to left. Donnelly leads the team with four sacrifice flies on the season.
A Holy Cross fielding error led to another Lehigh run in the sixth inning. David Young put the ball in play, but a blunder by the third baseman allowed Jacen Nalesnik to score from second. After scoring another run in game two, Nalesnik extends his team-high run total to 28 on the season.
Donovan surrendered just one extra-base hit in game one and allowed just two runners to reach scoring position. He allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth, but recorded a game-ending strikeout to set his new career record and clinch his second win in four starts this season.
Lehigh came out with some pop to start game two as Nalesnik roped a triple down the left field line in the first inning. Donnelly picked up his second RBI of the day as he grounded out to shortstop which allowed Nalesnik to score. The Mountain Hawks would not have another runner reach base until Jeff Shanfeldt led off the fifth inning with a single up the middle. Shanfeldt would also record the next and final hit of the game for Lehigh with another single in the seventh inning.
Holy Cross took the lead in fifth inning with two runs on just one hit and received help from a Lehigh error. The Crusader offense went dormant in sixth and seventh innings, but came back to life in the eighth with three-straight singles to start the inning. Holy Cross had nine-straight batters reach base safely and scored all six runs in the eighth inning with less than two outs.
Phil Reese earned the win in the start for Holy Cross. He cruised through 6.2 innings, surrendering just one run on three hits while racking up six strikeouts. George Capen game in for 1.1 scoreless innings of relief and did not allow a single hit while recording four strikeouts.
The two teams will return to action tomorrow for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The Mountain Hawks will look to avoid losing a third-straight series to Holy Cross.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Donovan, Connor (2-2)
L: King (1-4)
Batting:
RBI: Donnelly, Patrick 1
SH: Bleming, James 1
SF: Donnelly, Patrick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nalesnik, Jacen 1 ; Malloy, Ryan 1
SB: Malloy, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: McCormick 1
SH: Schlich 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball3B
/ Baseball
1B/P
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
IF
/ 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
