Tuesday, April 2
Bethlehem, Pa.
3 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
La Salle
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Lehigh set to face pair of Atlantic 10 foes in La Salle, Saint Joseph's
4/1/2019 6:09:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh baseball turns its focus from Patriot League baseball to non-league baseball when La Salle visits J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park on Tuesday at 3 p.m for the Liberty Bell Classic Second Round, then travels to Saint Joseph's on Wednesday for a makeup game from the beginning of March.
The Mountain Hawks are coming off a tough weekend at Holy Cross that ended in dropping two of three games to the Crusaders, resulting in Lehigh falling to 2-5 in Patriot League play.
In the first game of the series on Saturday, Levi Stoudt pitched very well, able to improve his record to 3-2 on the season after pitching a complete game, allowing just two earned runs over seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts on 107 pitches. Junior shortstop Matt Hand homered for the second consecutive game, as senior catcher Jeff Shanfeldt went 1-for-4 with two RBIs to extend his on-base streak to 20 straight games. Seven different players each registered a hit for Lehigh, as they got the best of the Crusaders, 5-3.
The last two games weren't as fortunate for the Mountain Hawks, struggling against Holy Cross arms Declan Cronin and Liam Dvorak. In the matchup on Sunday, Lehigh did get powerful at-bats from junior Tony Gallo and senior Ryan Malloy, who each homered for their third and seventh times, respectively.
After going 3-for-3 in Sunday's game, Shanfeldt continued to be aggressive and was able to improve his average to .318 on the season. Malloy (.344), Tyler Schreiner (.326) and Shanfeldt (.318) are the only three regular members of the starting lineup that are hitting above .300 so far through the first 26 games of the season.
Lehigh hopes it finds more success at home after beating Saint Peter's 13-5 last Wednesday at Walker Field. The Mountain Hawks are 2-4 at home this season and 6-10 away from Bethlehem.
La Salle enters Tuesday's game coming off a 10-5 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday. The Explorers are 4-6 in their last 10 games. Wins include the Bonnies, Delaware State, Fairleigh Dickinson and Delaware.
The Explorers are led by Ryan Guckin on offense, who paces the team with a .337 average (30-for-89), with four home runs, four doubles and 20 RBIs. He also has a .517 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .439.
Ben Faso has a significant grasp on La Salle's RBI lead with 31 so far this season. He is hitting .259 in 28 games played.
On the mound, La Salle is led by Jackson Ray, who is 1-3 with a 4.72 ERA in seven starts this season. He has struck out 23 batters and walked 17 in 34 1/3 innings.
Mike Jenkins has also had a strong going in his first three starts of the season, with a perfect 3-0 record and a 2.87 ERA. Jenkins has struck out 13 in 15 2/3 innings of work so far.
All-time, the Mountain Hawks are 12-10 against the Explorers, with Lehigh winning the last matchup, 13-4 on Apr. 11, 2017.
On Wednesday, Lehigh will visit Saint Joseph's after the matchup on Mar. 6 was postponed due to snowfall in Philadelphia.
The Hawks (12-12, 5-1 A10) are coming off winning two of three games against George Washington over the weekend. Saint Joe's will take on Lehigh after visiting crosstown rival Penn in the second round of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday.
Saint Joseph's will enter Wednesday's ballgame with a very impressive 5-1 start to conference play. Offensively, the Hawks are led by Nate Thomas (.349 AVG) and James McConnon (.333), as well as Dominic Cucoci and Andrew Cossetti, who are both hitting at identical .330 marks so far. Cossetti, however, leads Saint Joe's in home runs with six, as well as RBIs with 26 in his 23 starts this season.
Pitchers Cole Stetzar and Jake Meyers lead the way for the Hawks on the mound. Stetzar is 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in four starts, while Meyers is 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA in five starts this year, having struck out 24 batters, walked six in 24 2/3 innings of work.
All-time, the Mountain Hawks lead the series, 16-12-2 but Saint Joseph's was victorious last year, winning 10-2.
Freshman Mason Black (0-0, 4 G, 1 GS) is Lehigh's projected starting pitcher for Tuesday's home matchup with La Salle.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks are coming off a tough weekend at Holy Cross that ended in dropping two of three games to the Crusaders, resulting in Lehigh falling to 2-5 in Patriot League play.
In the first game of the series on Saturday, Levi Stoudt pitched very well, able to improve his record to 3-2 on the season after pitching a complete game, allowing just two earned runs over seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts on 107 pitches. Junior shortstop Matt Hand homered for the second consecutive game, as senior catcher Jeff Shanfeldt went 1-for-4 with two RBIs to extend his on-base streak to 20 straight games. Seven different players each registered a hit for Lehigh, as they got the best of the Crusaders, 5-3.
The last two games weren't as fortunate for the Mountain Hawks, struggling against Holy Cross arms Declan Cronin and Liam Dvorak. In the matchup on Sunday, Lehigh did get powerful at-bats from junior Tony Gallo and senior Ryan Malloy, who each homered for their third and seventh times, respectively.
After going 3-for-3 in Sunday's game, Shanfeldt continued to be aggressive and was able to improve his average to .318 on the season. Malloy (.344), Tyler Schreiner (.326) and Shanfeldt (.318) are the only three regular members of the starting lineup that are hitting above .300 so far through the first 26 games of the season.
Lehigh hopes it finds more success at home after beating Saint Peter's 13-5 last Wednesday at Walker Field. The Mountain Hawks are 2-4 at home this season and 6-10 away from Bethlehem.
La Salle enters Tuesday's game coming off a 10-5 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday. The Explorers are 4-6 in their last 10 games. Wins include the Bonnies, Delaware State, Fairleigh Dickinson and Delaware.
The Explorers are led by Ryan Guckin on offense, who paces the team with a .337 average (30-for-89), with four home runs, four doubles and 20 RBIs. He also has a .517 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .439.
Ben Faso has a significant grasp on La Salle's RBI lead with 31 so far this season. He is hitting .259 in 28 games played.
On the mound, La Salle is led by Jackson Ray, who is 1-3 with a 4.72 ERA in seven starts this season. He has struck out 23 batters and walked 17 in 34 1/3 innings.
Mike Jenkins has also had a strong going in his first three starts of the season, with a perfect 3-0 record and a 2.87 ERA. Jenkins has struck out 13 in 15 2/3 innings of work so far.
All-time, the Mountain Hawks are 12-10 against the Explorers, with Lehigh winning the last matchup, 13-4 on Apr. 11, 2017.
On Wednesday, Lehigh will visit Saint Joseph's after the matchup on Mar. 6 was postponed due to snowfall in Philadelphia.
The Hawks (12-12, 5-1 A10) are coming off winning two of three games against George Washington over the weekend. Saint Joe's will take on Lehigh after visiting crosstown rival Penn in the second round of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday.
Saint Joseph's will enter Wednesday's ballgame with a very impressive 5-1 start to conference play. Offensively, the Hawks are led by Nate Thomas (.349 AVG) and James McConnon (.333), as well as Dominic Cucoci and Andrew Cossetti, who are both hitting at identical .330 marks so far. Cossetti, however, leads Saint Joe's in home runs with six, as well as RBIs with 26 in his 23 starts this season.
Pitchers Cole Stetzar and Jake Meyers lead the way for the Hawks on the mound. Stetzar is 1-2 with a 3.16 ERA in four starts, while Meyers is 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA in five starts this year, having struck out 24 batters, walked six in 24 2/3 innings of work.
All-time, the Mountain Hawks lead the series, 16-12-2 but Saint Joseph's was victorious last year, winning 10-2.
Freshman Mason Black (0-0, 4 G, 1 GS) is Lehigh's projected starting pitcher for Tuesday's home matchup with La Salle.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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