Saturday, March 23
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
8-10, 0
1
vs
4
Lafayette
4-14, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lafayette
0
0
1
0
0
0
3
4
7
0
Lehigh
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
5
1
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Mountain Hawks drop two to Lafayette in PL opener
3/23/2019 8:43:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh baseball team struggled to get much of anything going for the first game and a half, as the Mountain Hawks dropped two to Lafayette to open Patriot League play Saturday at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park.
The first game didn't exactly go as planned as the Mountain Hawks managed to get just one run on five hits in junior right-hander Jason Reynolds' fifth start of the season. Reynolds went the distance, allowing four runs, three earned over seven hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Freshman designated hitter Casey Rother continued his impressive week with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring Tony Gallo to tie the game at one.
The Leopards tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh inning, thanks to four hits to put Lafayette in the best position to come away with the win.
Senior catcher Jeff Shanfeldt went 2-for-3 with a double, while Gallo also managed to get a double, his third of the year, to go 1-for-3.
The second game of the afternoon still lacked success, but the Mountain Hawks made an extra push in the later innings to give themselves a chance late.
The Leopards got on the board first with an RBI single from Trey Durrah, but it was in the bottom of the third inning when Lehigh was able to take its first lead of the weekend.
Junior center fielder Mike Maguire doubled through the right side, scoring junior shortstop Matt Hand. That led to an RBI-single for freshman third baseman Gerard Sweeney that scored Maguire and then a throwing error that allowed Shanfeldt to reach base, scoring Sweeney to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-1 lead.
The Leopards broke the game open in two straight innings with a Trey Durrah grand slam in the top of the fourth inning to make it 5-3 and then two singles and a double to make it a 10-3 game.
Sweeney added a run in the Lehigh half of the fifth inning on his first career home run, making it 10-4 Lafayette.
The Mountain Hawks had themselves a big bottom of the eighth inning to come within striking distance after Maguire walked with the bases loaded, scoring Matt Hand. Gallo gave Lehigh a chance with two outs, doubling to left center field, scoring Maguire, Thomas Schumacher and Tyler Schreiner to make it a 10-8 ballgame. A Shanfeldt single, scoring Gallo put the Mountain Hawks just a run from the lead, trailing 10-9, which was the way the game ended.
Both Sweeney and Gallo finished the afternoon with multi-hit games, going 2-for-5 and 2-for-4, respectively. Maguire went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs. Ryan Malloy went 1-for-3 with two walks. Despite giving up five earned runs, senior left-hander Ethan Frohman settled in and finished the final five innings, leaving the Leopards off the scoreboard for the final four frames and struck out three batters.
"It's just disappointing," said head coach Sean Leary. "We didn't have the right mindset and their team went out and executed better than we did.
"There just is no sugar coating. We're not very pleased with our execution today and you have to protect your home field and we didn't do that. We didn't do enough to win today."
The Mountain Hawks fall to 8-11 on the season, starting the Patriot League campaign off with an 0-2 record. Lehigh has lost its last three games.
Lehigh will look to regroup and finish out the series strong with a doubleheader set for noon on Sunday against the Leopards. The first 50 fans will receive a 'Beat Lafayette' t-shirt.
"We need to show up tomorrow and forget today," said Leary. "Baseball is a funny game when you go out the next day and just need to get the mindset right and it's all about execution. I told the team to think about it tonight and be prepared just win each inning tomorrow."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The first game didn't exactly go as planned as the Mountain Hawks managed to get just one run on five hits in junior right-hander Jason Reynolds' fifth start of the season. Reynolds went the distance, allowing four runs, three earned over seven hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Freshman designated hitter Casey Rother continued his impressive week with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring Tony Gallo to tie the game at one.
The Leopards tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh inning, thanks to four hits to put Lafayette in the best position to come away with the win.
Senior catcher Jeff Shanfeldt went 2-for-3 with a double, while Gallo also managed to get a double, his third of the year, to go 1-for-3.
The second game of the afternoon still lacked success, but the Mountain Hawks made an extra push in the later innings to give themselves a chance late.
The Leopards got on the board first with an RBI single from Trey Durrah, but it was in the bottom of the third inning when Lehigh was able to take its first lead of the weekend.
Junior center fielder Mike Maguire doubled through the right side, scoring junior shortstop Matt Hand. That led to an RBI-single for freshman third baseman Gerard Sweeney that scored Maguire and then a throwing error that allowed Shanfeldt to reach base, scoring Sweeney to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-1 lead.
The Leopards broke the game open in two straight innings with a Trey Durrah grand slam in the top of the fourth inning to make it 5-3 and then two singles and a double to make it a 10-3 game.
Sweeney added a run in the Lehigh half of the fifth inning on his first career home run, making it 10-4 Lafayette.
Sweeney with his first-career homer!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 23, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/MDd3H8IR9s pic.twitter.com/l57sOtXQH0
The Mountain Hawks had themselves a big bottom of the eighth inning to come within striking distance after Maguire walked with the bases loaded, scoring Matt Hand. Gallo gave Lehigh a chance with two outs, doubling to left center field, scoring Maguire, Thomas Schumacher and Tyler Schreiner to make it a 10-8 ballgame. A Shanfeldt single, scoring Gallo put the Mountain Hawks just a run from the lead, trailing 10-9, which was the way the game ended.
The big blow in that eighth was this bases-clearing double by Tony Gallo!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 23, 2019
Watch: https://t.co/MDd3H8rghU pic.twitter.com/vxjZm0Sqbt
Both Sweeney and Gallo finished the afternoon with multi-hit games, going 2-for-5 and 2-for-4, respectively. Maguire went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs. Ryan Malloy went 1-for-3 with two walks. Despite giving up five earned runs, senior left-hander Ethan Frohman settled in and finished the final five innings, leaving the Leopards off the scoreboard for the final four frames and struck out three batters.
"It's just disappointing," said head coach Sean Leary. "We didn't have the right mindset and their team went out and executed better than we did.
"There just is no sugar coating. We're not very pleased with our execution today and you have to protect your home field and we didn't do that. We didn't do enough to win today."
The Mountain Hawks fall to 8-11 on the season, starting the Patriot League campaign off with an 0-2 record. Lehigh has lost its last three games.
Lehigh will look to regroup and finish out the series strong with a doubleheader set for noon on Sunday against the Leopards. The first 50 fans will receive a 'Beat Lafayette' t-shirt.
"We need to show up tomorrow and forget today," said Leary. "Baseball is a funny game when you go out the next day and just need to get the mindset right and it's all about execution. I told the team to think about it tonight and be prepared just win each inning tomorrow."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Woodward, JP (1-4)
L: Reynolds, Jason (2-2)
Batting:
RBI: Johnson, Justin 1 ; Stern, Ethan 1 ; Minghini, Dylan 1
SH: Johnson, Justin 1 ; Stern, Ethan 1 ; Glover, Mark 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rouse, Spencer 1 ; Durrah, Trey 2 ; Minghini, Dylan 1
SB: Stern, Ethan 1
HBP: Stern, Ethan 1
Batting:
2B: Gallo, Tony 1 ; Shanfeldt, Jeff 1
RBI: Rother, Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gallo, Tony 1
HBP: Malloy, Ryan 1 ; Cichocki , Eric 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball1B/2B
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
1B
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
3B
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