Friday, February 15
Durham, N.C.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
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Duke
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LEHIGH
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Duke
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Photo by: Josh Liddick
Despite Stoudt's strong start, Lehigh falls to Duke in season opener
2/15/2019 8:51:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. — The Lehigh baseball team opened its season against the Duke Blue Devils on Friday afternoon. Despite a solid outing from junior Levi Stoudt to open the 2019 season, the Mountain Hawks fell to the Blue Devils, 6-0 in the first game of the season.
Duke got on the board early against Stoudt, drawing first with two runs in the first inning. A Kennie Taylor double and a Michael Rothenberg sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 Blue Devil lead.
Stoudt settled in for the next two innings, facing 16 batters, only allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits with six strikeouts. He got three of those strikeouts in the bottom of the third when he struck out the side in order.
"I think Levi was a little bit amped up," said Leary. "And as soon as he settled in, he really did a terrific job. We only took him out because I had a 70-pitch count on him and I think he could've worked his way through the fourth inning because he's so competitive.
"Considering the stage that he was on today, I thought that he performed at a super high level."
Hits were few and far between for the Mountain Hawks, but they made the best of their opportunities, especially due to Tony Gallo's offensive spark and hustle. Gallo slapped a line drive to right field that fell in for a base hit in the top of the first inning. The hit extended his on-base streak to 12 straight games, dating back to the conclusion of the 2018 season. Gallo also managed to get himself on base in the top of the fourth, when he was hit by reliever Hunter Davis.
"Tony's going to need to be a force for us in our lineup and I thought that he had competitive at-bats all day, hit the ball hard twice, got on twice," Leary said. "I think he showed the rest of the guys that if we're just simple with our approach, we could've been a little bit better."
Defensively, Lehigh struggled with some early game jitters, but right fielder Quinn McKenna was able showcase his tracking abilities and sprawled out to make a diving catch in the bottom of the first inning to save a couple of runs from coming across.
"We do need to get a little better defensively," said Leary. "We made some great plays today and we missed a couple routine plays."
Lehigh also got a solid outing in relief from senior Ethan Frohman, who pitched three innings of three-hit ball, allowing two runs, both earned with four strikeouts.
The Mountain Hawks had a tough time figuring out Duke southpaw Graeme Stinson, who struck out six batters and only allowed one hit in three innings of work. Stinson entered Friday as the fourth-highest rated prospect on Baseball America's Top 50 MLB draft prospects.
The Blue Devils pitching finished the afternoon with 18 strikeouts and didn't allow a hit after the first inning, but there are still a ton of positives surrounding head coach Sean Leary's team after just the first game of the season.
"We're not going to minimize that it wasn't a great offensive effort, but at the same time, we need to get back after it tomorrow," said Leary. "We'll tip our caps to some really good pitching and yet our standard is that we want to be a little bit more competitive with two strikes than we were today.
"Our guys are going to be so much more comfortable in the box tomorrow after being out there for the first time."
The Mountain Hawks will get back to work Saturday at 1 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to take on Duke in the second game of the three-game set. Left-hander Jason Reynolds is scheduled to take the rubber and he'll oppose Duke righty Bryce Jarvis. The game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Duke got on the board early against Stoudt, drawing first with two runs in the first inning. A Kennie Taylor double and a Michael Rothenberg sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 Blue Devil lead.
Stoudt settled in for the next two innings, facing 16 batters, only allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits with six strikeouts. He got three of those strikeouts in the bottom of the third when he struck out the side in order.
"I think Levi was a little bit amped up," said Leary. "And as soon as he settled in, he really did a terrific job. We only took him out because I had a 70-pitch count on him and I think he could've worked his way through the fourth inning because he's so competitive.
"Considering the stage that he was on today, I thought that he performed at a super high level."
Hits were few and far between for the Mountain Hawks, but they made the best of their opportunities, especially due to Tony Gallo's offensive spark and hustle. Gallo slapped a line drive to right field that fell in for a base hit in the top of the first inning. The hit extended his on-base streak to 12 straight games, dating back to the conclusion of the 2018 season. Gallo also managed to get himself on base in the top of the fourth, when he was hit by reliever Hunter Davis.
"Tony's going to need to be a force for us in our lineup and I thought that he had competitive at-bats all day, hit the ball hard twice, got on twice," Leary said. "I think he showed the rest of the guys that if we're just simple with our approach, we could've been a little bit better."
Defensively, Lehigh struggled with some early game jitters, but right fielder Quinn McKenna was able showcase his tracking abilities and sprawled out to make a diving catch in the bottom of the first inning to save a couple of runs from coming across.
"We do need to get a little better defensively," said Leary. "We made some great plays today and we missed a couple routine plays."
Lehigh also got a solid outing in relief from senior Ethan Frohman, who pitched three innings of three-hit ball, allowing two runs, both earned with four strikeouts.
The Mountain Hawks had a tough time figuring out Duke southpaw Graeme Stinson, who struck out six batters and only allowed one hit in three innings of work. Stinson entered Friday as the fourth-highest rated prospect on Baseball America's Top 50 MLB draft prospects.
The Blue Devils pitching finished the afternoon with 18 strikeouts and didn't allow a hit after the first inning, but there are still a ton of positives surrounding head coach Sean Leary's team after just the first game of the season.
"We're not going to minimize that it wasn't a great offensive effort, but at the same time, we need to get back after it tomorrow," said Leary. "We'll tip our caps to some really good pitching and yet our standard is that we want to be a little bit more competitive with two strikes than we were today.
"Our guys are going to be so much more comfortable in the box tomorrow after being out there for the first time."
The Mountain Hawks will get back to work Saturday at 1 p.m. at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to take on Duke in the second game of the three-game set. Left-hander Jason Reynolds is scheduled to take the rubber and he'll oppose Duke righty Bryce Jarvis. The game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Graeme Stinson (1-0)
L: Stoudt, Levi (0-1)
Base Running:
HBP: Gallo, Tony 1
Batting:
2B: Kennie Taylor 1 ; Chris Crabtree 1
RBI: Kennie Taylor 2 ; Chris Crabtree 1 ; Michael Rothenberg 1 ; Erikson Nichols 2 ; Chase Cheek 1
SF: Michael Rothenberg 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Joey Loperfido 2 ; Kennie Taylor 1 ; Kyle Gallagher 1 ; Chris Crabtree 1 ; Rudy Maxwell 1 ; Ethan Murray 1
SB: Joey Loperfido 1 ; Ethan Murray 1
HBP: Ethan Murray 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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