Lehigh University
8-9
Penn
10-4
Mountain Hawks drop home opener to Penn, 13-2
3/20/2019 7:39:00 PM | Baseball
The Quakers got going early and often with two runs to start the top of the second inning, thanks to a two-run home run for Matt O'Neill off freshman starting pitcher Luke Rettig. In the top of the fifth inning, Penn scored four more runs to take a 6-0 lead with a home run, two singles and a sacrifice-fly. In the top of the sixth inning, the Quakers added six more runs on a fielding error, a single, a walk with the bases loaded, another single and then a hit batter with the bases loaded to put Penn up 12-0.
"This performance wasn't a representation of the way we've been playing for the last month or so," said head coach Sean Leary. "The big picture is when you have a 10-game stretch in 12 days, every once in a while, you get to have a moment where things don't go as well as you would hope.
"Where today, we had a number of guys on pitch counts and maybe we got a little bit thin on pitching and they jumped on that a little bit today. I give a ton of credit to Penn and the way they played."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mountain Hawks finally got their first run of the game after senior left fielder Ryan Malloy grounded out to the shortstop, allowing freshman shortstop Gerard Sweeney to score. A Casey Rother single then scored Eric Cichocki to cut the deficit to 12-2 in the same inning.
Casey Rother with his third hit, and gets the RBI.
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 20, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/MDd3H8IR9s. pic.twitter.com/A7OYDnQiRg
Penn tacked on an additional run in the top of the ninth inning, a foul out that ended up scoring a run on the sacrifice.
The Mountain Hawks were led by the freshman catcher Rother, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Matt Hand and senior Thomas Schumacher each went 1-for-3, while Cichocki added a base hit, a double through the left side, in the bottom of the eighth that led to him scoring a run in the inning.
Cichocki helped spark that eighth inning with this double down the line.
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 20, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/MDd3H8IR9s. pic.twitter.com/TZeMwpXJkW
"One of the things you look for in these mid-week games is to get some of your guys in a rhythm, and certainly the last two days, Casey really swung the bat well," said Leary. "The benefit for us in these mid-week games is that we get to see a little bit of our bullpen, some guys in positions they haven't been in, and Casey is playing well and catching well, so it's nice to see him do that."
On the mound, Rettig (0-2) got the loss, but threw for three innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits with three strikeouts. Freshman Mason Black and senior Ethan Frohman each came in for an inning and tossed two and one strikeout, respectively. Sophomore Yash Rane finished out the game for Lehigh, pitching for 3.2 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits, walking two batters and striking out one.
Mason Black enters and immediately strikes out the first two batters he faces. Here's the first.
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 20, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/MDd3H8IR9s. pic.twitter.com/Rpx9hKCLc0
The Mountain Hawks fall to 8-9 on the season, while Penn improves to 10-4. Lehigh will take on archrival Lafayette on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at noon and then again on Sunday at noon from J. David Walker Field. Leary feels like his team is prepared enough from the last 17 games to begin Patriot League play with a ton of confidence.
"I think we've put our team in a position where we've challenged ourselves over this first 17-game stretch that we've learned who we are, what our identity as a pitching staff and as an offensive team is," Leary said. "I feel really confident about the way we've played when playing at our best."
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Miller,Joe (2-1)
L: Rettig, Luke (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Malinowski,Eduardo 1 ; McGeagh,Matt 1 ; Petersen,Jackson 1
HR: O'Neill,Matt 1 ; Malinowski,Eduardo 1
RBI: Courtney,Tommy 1 ; Matt,Peter 2 ; Phelan,Sean 2 ; Larsen,Craig 2 ; O'Neill,Matt 2 ; Malinowski,Eduardo 2 ; Petersen,Jackson 1
SF: Matt,Peter 1 ; Phelan,Sean 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Courtney,Tommy 2 ; Matt,Peter 1 ; Phelan,Sean 1 ; Larsen,Craig 1 ; O'Neill,Matt 1 ; Malinowski,Eduardo 2 ; McGeagh,Matt 2 ; Petersen,Jackson 3
SB: Malinowski,Eduardo 1
HBP: Larsen,Craig 1 ; Malinowski,Eduardo 1
PO: Courtney,Tommy 1
Batting:
2B: Cichocki , Eric 1
RBI: Malloy, Ryan 1 ; Rother, Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Cichocki , Eric 1
