Saturday, March 23
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Lafayette
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
The Rivalry resumes as Lehigh hosts Lafayette for weekend doubleheaders
3/22/2019 4:17:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Coming off a tough loss on Wednesday in the home opener to Penn, Lehigh baseball is back for four games this weekend against archrival Lafayette with a doubleheader Saturday and Sunday to open Patriot League play for the 2019 season.
The Mountain Hawks (8-9) have fallen in two of their last three games and hope to get back on track with the Leopards (3-14) at J. David Walker Field.
In Wednesday's 13-2 loss to Penn, Lehigh was led by freshman catcher Casey Rother, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and got his second consecutive multi-hit game. The first year has tallied five such games this season. Junior shortstop Matt Hand continued his impressive stretch of offensive play by going 1-for-3 against the Quakers on Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to a team-high eight straight games.
Senior left fielder Ryan Malloy is still trying to get back to his early-season offensive form after going 0-for-3 against Penn on Wednesday after notching two hits against Fairleigh-Dickinson on Tuesday. Malloy is the only player on the Mountain Hawks that has a batting average of .400 or higher and is one of two players in the Patriot League (Zach Stevens, Navy, .410) with that distinction.
The Mountain Hawks are hitting .245 as a team and lead the Patriot League in home runs with 10 and average 6.3 runs per game and 8.6 hits per game, making their offense a threat to get on base in every situation.
Lehigh will look to junior right-handers Levi Stoudt and Jason Reynolds to get the weekend started on Saturday in Games 1 and 2, as Stoudt has been magnificent in his previous two starts. He has pitched 13 consecutive scoreless frames and has allowed just five hits and struck out 17 batters in those two games, getting his ERA to a team-best 3.20. Reynolds (2-1) struggled in his last start at VMI where he allowed four earned runs over six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. In his previous start he struck out seven batters and allowed just two hits and no runs in four innings of work to beat Monmouth.
The Mountain Hawks' bullpen has been a bright spot this season led by senior Ethan Frohman (1-0, 3.38 ERA) and sophomores Peter Woltersdorf (2-0, 3.40 ERA) and Yash Rane (0-0, 4.15 ERA).
The Leopards enter the weekend looking for a spark, having lost their last eight games. Like Lehigh, Lafayette has common opponents so far this season in James Madison and Penn, going 1-3 against those teams.
Offensively, the Leopards are led by freshman Justin Johnson, who is hitting .323 with a slugging percentage of .419. Mark Anderson leads Lafayette with a 5.95 ERA in five starts on the mound, while JP Woodward (0-4) is still searching for his first win of 2019 despite a team-high 16 strikeouts. Woodward is the projected Game 1 starter for the Leopards while Mark Anderson will get the Game 2 nod.
All-time, Lafayette has gotten the better of the series, leading 209-160-2, but the Mountain Hawks have won 12 of the last 15 matchups between the two schools, with Lehigh winning the last one, 5-2 on April, 18, 2018.
This weekend's series will also be accompanied with two promotions as the first 50 fans will receive a Lehigh baseball poster at noon on Saturday at the field. On Sunday, the first 50 fans will receive a 'Beat Lafayette T-Shirt,' with first pitch scheduled for noon as well.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks (8-9) have fallen in two of their last three games and hope to get back on track with the Leopards (3-14) at J. David Walker Field.
In Wednesday's 13-2 loss to Penn, Lehigh was led by freshman catcher Casey Rother, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and got his second consecutive multi-hit game. The first year has tallied five such games this season. Junior shortstop Matt Hand continued his impressive stretch of offensive play by going 1-for-3 against the Quakers on Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to a team-high eight straight games.
Senior left fielder Ryan Malloy is still trying to get back to his early-season offensive form after going 0-for-3 against Penn on Wednesday after notching two hits against Fairleigh-Dickinson on Tuesday. Malloy is the only player on the Mountain Hawks that has a batting average of .400 or higher and is one of two players in the Patriot League (Zach Stevens, Navy, .410) with that distinction.
The Mountain Hawks are hitting .245 as a team and lead the Patriot League in home runs with 10 and average 6.3 runs per game and 8.6 hits per game, making their offense a threat to get on base in every situation.
Lehigh will look to junior right-handers Levi Stoudt and Jason Reynolds to get the weekend started on Saturday in Games 1 and 2, as Stoudt has been magnificent in his previous two starts. He has pitched 13 consecutive scoreless frames and has allowed just five hits and struck out 17 batters in those two games, getting his ERA to a team-best 3.20. Reynolds (2-1) struggled in his last start at VMI where he allowed four earned runs over six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. In his previous start he struck out seven batters and allowed just two hits and no runs in four innings of work to beat Monmouth.
The Mountain Hawks' bullpen has been a bright spot this season led by senior Ethan Frohman (1-0, 3.38 ERA) and sophomores Peter Woltersdorf (2-0, 3.40 ERA) and Yash Rane (0-0, 4.15 ERA).
The Leopards enter the weekend looking for a spark, having lost their last eight games. Like Lehigh, Lafayette has common opponents so far this season in James Madison and Penn, going 1-3 against those teams.
Offensively, the Leopards are led by freshman Justin Johnson, who is hitting .323 with a slugging percentage of .419. Mark Anderson leads Lafayette with a 5.95 ERA in five starts on the mound, while JP Woodward (0-4) is still searching for his first win of 2019 despite a team-high 16 strikeouts. Woodward is the projected Game 1 starter for the Leopards while Mark Anderson will get the Game 2 nod.
All-time, Lafayette has gotten the better of the series, leading 209-160-2, but the Mountain Hawks have won 12 of the last 15 matchups between the two schools, with Lehigh winning the last one, 5-2 on April, 18, 2018.
This weekend's series will also be accompanied with two promotions as the first 50 fans will receive a Lehigh baseball poster at noon on Saturday at the field. On Sunday, the first 50 fans will receive a 'Beat Lafayette T-Shirt,' with first pitch scheduled for noon as well.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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