Lafayette Spoils Lehigh Comeback in Walk-Off Win

Monday, March 26

Easton, Pa.

1 p.m.

Lehigh University

10-13, 2-1

Lafayette College

9-12, 1-2

Lehigh

Lafayette

Lafayette Spoils Lehigh Comeback in Walk-Off Win

3/26/2018 8:27:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After erasing a four-run deficit and extending the game with a three-run rally in the seventh, Lehigh's bid at a comeback win was denied as Lafayette walked off with an 8-7 victory in the ninth inning of game one of Monday's scheduled doubleheader. Due to the lack of remaining daylight, game two was postponed. A makeup date has yet to be determined.

Lafayette (10-13) jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a four-run rally in the fourth inning. Stephen Cohen, who played the role of hero with his eventual walk-off double, got the rally going in the fourth with a two-run single. Luke Robinson then followed Cohen with a two-run triple.

Lehigh (9-12) began to chip away at the deficit in the fifth and six innings. The Mountain Hawks got one run back in the fifth as Lafayette's Gabe Levine committed a pair of balks which allowed Chris Kersey to score from second. The bats came to life in the sixth as Lehigh racked up four hits in the frame. Chris Butera poked a single through the left side to score Tony Gallo from third and Ryan Bonshak tacked on another with a RBI single.

After Lafayette responded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Lehigh had their backs against the wall heading into the final inning with a three-run deficit. The chances at comeback became more improbable as the Mountain Hawks began the seventh with back-to-back fly outs. Gallo broke the trend and reached base safely with a single, then Thomas Schumacher gave Lehigh a huge breath of life with a two-run blast over the left field fence.

The hits kept rolling for Lehigh as Jeff Shanfeldt singled up the middle, followed by another single by Butera. Still with two outs away, Bonshak came up clutch once again as he turned on an inside pitch with two strikes and poked it through the left side to allow Shanfeldt to come home for the tying run.

Lehigh carried the momentum into the eighth as Kersey led off with a double and Mike Maguire reached on an error. James Bleming drew an intentional walk and after a pitching change, Gallo recorded his third hit of the game with a RBI single up the middle to put LU in the lead. Lafayette limited the damage and managed to record three-straight outs following Gallo's go-ahead single to get out of the inning.

The Leopards found some two-out magic of their own in the bottom of the eighth and worked the tying run across to extend the game into the ninth. With the momentum shifted, Lafayette kept the pressure up by putting the ball in play in the ninth and eventually capitalized on the opportunity with a clutch double by Cohen.

Gallo led Lehigh with three hits on the day in a 3-for-5 performance and also scored a pair of runs with a RBI. The corner infielder has been hot at the plate with hits in seven of his last eight and his hitting .400 on the year.

Kersey paced the squad with four runs scored in the three-game set at Lafayette. Bonshak and Bleming tied with three RBI each in the series.

The Mountain Hawks roll into the next game on Tuesday as they hit the road to take on Rider in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic. First pitch in Lawrenceville, N.J. is set for 3:30.

Lehigh is set to make its home debut on Wednesday as Saint Peter's travels to J. David Walker Field. That game is set to start at 3 p.m.