Crusaders Take Two From Lehigh on Sunday to Win Series

Sunday, April 9

Worcester, MA

1 p.m.

Lehigh University

10-19, 0

Holy Cross

10-18, 0

Lehigh

Holy Cross

Crusaders Take Two From Lehigh on Sunday to Win Series

4/9/2017 7:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Mountain Hawks suffered a pair of hard-fought losses in Sunday's doubleheader at Holy Cross as the preseason Patriot League favorite took three out of four games from Lehigh in the weekend series.

One run was all the Crusaders (11-18, 5-3) needed in game one as they held Lehigh (10-20, 2-6) to a season-low two hits in a 1-0 victory. Similar to game two on Saturday, Holy Cross used one big offensive inning in game two on Sunday to open up a six-run lead and held on to win 7-3.

Holy Cross had a no-hitter working through 4.1 innings in game one before David Young singled to left in the fifth. Lehigh also held the Crusader offense in check through the first five innings as HC only managed three hits during that span.

The Crusaders led off the sixth inning with a triple and wasted no time getting the run in as the second batter up poked a single to center field to take the first lead of the game. Patrick Donnelly led off the seventh with a single to center and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Donnelly moved to third following a ground, but the Mountain Hawks could get the tying run in as they ended the game on a pop up and fly out.

Levi Stoudt started and went the distance in game one. The freshman surrendered just one run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Holy Cross used two arms in game one. Ben White and Justin Finan combined to surrender two hits and recorded just five strikeouts in seven shutout innings.
The two teams traded home runs in the early innings of game two. Holy Cross posted a two-run homer in the second inning and Jacen Nalesnik answered back for Lehigh with a solo shot in the third.

After beginning the fourth inning with back-to-back ground outs, the Crusaders put a runner on base with a single and then loaded the bases with two-straight walks. Bill Schlich stepped up for Holy Cross and snuck a single through the right side to drive in two runs. Schlich stole second to put two runners back in scoring position and then the Crusaders posted back-to-back RBI doubles to drive in three more runs to finish out the inning.

Lehigh, the top home run hitting team in the Patriot League, broke out of its three-game homerless slump with a trio of long balls in game two. In addition to Nalesnick's homer in the second, Chris Kersey and John Scarr also posted solo shots as the three sluggers accounted for all of Lehigh's runs on the day.

Nalesnik moves into a three-way tie for first place in the league with seven home runs and matched his season total from last season. Lehigh sits atop the league with 30 home runs, which seven more than second place Navy.

Lehigh received a strong relief effort from freshman Matt Hand who finished the final 4.0 innings in game two. The rookie righty surrendered just one hit and posted a strikeout while holding Holy Cross off the board.

Joe Cravero earned the game two win as he tossed 6.0 innings and gave up two earned runs on four hits while racking up nine strikeouts. The Crusader pitching staff compiled 13 strikeouts on the day.

Lehigh will return to action Tuesday at home with another matchup against La Salle. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.