Wednesday, April 10
Bethlehem, PA.
3 p.m.
Lehigh University
14-18
8
vs
3
Fairleigh Dickinson
4-24-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Fairleigh Dickinson
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
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5
0
Lehigh
0
0
0
5
2
0
0
1
X
8
11
2
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Black's solid outing, extra base hits push Lehigh over FDU, 8-3
4/10/2019 8:22:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The pitching finally found its groove as Lehigh baseball got the best of Fairleigh Dickinson in the second game of a home-and-home, 8-3 at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park Wednesday afternoon.
It was a solid third start for freshman right-hander Mason Black (1-0), who picked up the first collegiate win of his career. Black went six innings without allowing an earned run, giving up just three hits, walking three and striking out five batters.
"I thought Mason started to look more like himself today," said head coach Sean Leary. "Obviously he's coming off a little bit of a tough start to the spring and a little setback healthwise and the last two outings he was getting close, but he just needed to extend his pitch count a little bit and it was fun to see him get into that fourth, fifth, sixth inning today.
"We expect big things from him and now after seeing him pitch today, we can expect to see him pitch in more critical situations going forward."
The offense helped out Black though once again, as the Mountain Hawks stormed ahead from a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the fourth inning when they exploded for a five-spot in the inning. Sophomore left fielder Tyler Schreiner put Lehigh on the board with a sacrifice fly that scored junior center fielder Mike Maguire, tying the Knights at 1.
A Casey Rother single to right field scored Gerard Sweeney to put Lehigh up on top, 2-1. Thomas Schumacher's second home run of the season was a good one, as the three-run shot gave the Mountain Hawks a 5-1 lead after four innings.
"Tom has been injured and platooning a little bit recently so today was a day where we wanted to get him going again," said Leary. "So I think our offense has done a really good job when we get a little bit of a lead.
"We have to work a little bit harder in those 1-1 games and 2-1 games, but this is how you build confidence. You get some big hits and what we like right now is that they're coming from different guys every ballgame. Malloy and Hand both got a rest today and the guys that filled in for them did a really nice job."
Gerard Sweeney's bat stayed hot in the bottom of the fifth inning, as a triple to center field scored Mike Maguire to extend the lead to 6-1. Tony Gallo's single to left field brought Sweeney in to take a 7-1 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mountain Hawks got a bit of insurance from Tim DiLoreto's hit by pitch with the bases loaded that brought in Maguire to score and make the lead 8-1.
With freshman Matt Stamford on the mound, the Knights got two runs back in the top of the ninth on a double and a sacrifice, but Stamford shut the door for his first save of the year. All-in-all, Stamford pitched very well in relief of Black, going three innings, allowing just two earned runs and two hits, while striking out a batter.
Schumacher (1-for-3, home run, three RBIs) and Sweeney (1-for-3, triple, walk, RBI) were the main reasons the Mountain Hawks offense was productive on Wednesday, while Mike Maguire was key in getting on base throughout the game. Maguire went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three walks. Gallo also went 2-for-4 for Lehigh, while Casey Rother, Chase Carlson, Jake Kochmansky, Quinn McKenna and Tyler Schreiner each recorded a single hit.
With the victory, the Mountain Hawks sweep the season series with Fairleigh Dickinson and will look to gain momentum this weekend, when Navy comes to town for a three-game series starting with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday.
"I think that it's a challenge that we get excited about the best arm in the league (Noah Song) will be throwing Game 1 against us," Leary said. "We've seen him for four years, he's outstanding, averaging two strikeouts per inning. It's pretty impressive to watch the numbers he's putting up.
"But it's a tournament-type of atmosphere for us. We're in a little bit of a hole from where we thought we would be at this point but we control our fate the rest of the way out. We feel really good about our chances going into the weekend and honestly, we feel really good about our arms rounding into the shape as we're in the midseason here."+
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
It was a solid third start for freshman right-hander Mason Black (1-0), who picked up the first collegiate win of his career. Black went six innings without allowing an earned run, giving up just three hits, walking three and striking out five batters.
"I thought Mason started to look more like himself today," said head coach Sean Leary. "Obviously he's coming off a little bit of a tough start to the spring and a little setback healthwise and the last two outings he was getting close, but he just needed to extend his pitch count a little bit and it was fun to see him get into that fourth, fifth, sixth inning today.
"We expect big things from him and now after seeing him pitch today, we can expect to see him pitch in more critical situations going forward."
The offense helped out Black though once again, as the Mountain Hawks stormed ahead from a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the fourth inning when they exploded for a five-spot in the inning. Sophomore left fielder Tyler Schreiner put Lehigh on the board with a sacrifice fly that scored junior center fielder Mike Maguire, tying the Knights at 1.
A Casey Rother single to right field scored Gerard Sweeney to put Lehigh up on top, 2-1. Thomas Schumacher's second home run of the season was a good one, as the three-run shot gave the Mountain Hawks a 5-1 lead after four innings.
"Tom has been injured and platooning a little bit recently so today was a day where we wanted to get him going again," said Leary. "So I think our offense has done a really good job when we get a little bit of a lead.
"We have to work a little bit harder in those 1-1 games and 2-1 games, but this is how you build confidence. You get some big hits and what we like right now is that they're coming from different guys every ballgame. Malloy and Hand both got a rest today and the guys that filled in for them did a really nice job."
Gerard Sweeney's bat stayed hot in the bottom of the fifth inning, as a triple to center field scored Mike Maguire to extend the lead to 6-1. Tony Gallo's single to left field brought Sweeney in to take a 7-1 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mountain Hawks got a bit of insurance from Tim DiLoreto's hit by pitch with the bases loaded that brought in Maguire to score and make the lead 8-1.
With freshman Matt Stamford on the mound, the Knights got two runs back in the top of the ninth on a double and a sacrifice, but Stamford shut the door for his first save of the year. All-in-all, Stamford pitched very well in relief of Black, going three innings, allowing just two earned runs and two hits, while striking out a batter.
Schumacher (1-for-3, home run, three RBIs) and Sweeney (1-for-3, triple, walk, RBI) were the main reasons the Mountain Hawks offense was productive on Wednesday, while Mike Maguire was key in getting on base throughout the game. Maguire went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three walks. Gallo also went 2-for-4 for Lehigh, while Casey Rother, Chase Carlson, Jake Kochmansky, Quinn McKenna and Tyler Schreiner each recorded a single hit.
With the victory, the Mountain Hawks sweep the season series with Fairleigh Dickinson and will look to gain momentum this weekend, when Navy comes to town for a three-game series starting with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday.
"I think that it's a challenge that we get excited about the best arm in the league (Noah Song) will be throwing Game 1 against us," Leary said. "We've seen him for four years, he's outstanding, averaging two strikeouts per inning. It's pretty impressive to watch the numbers he's putting up.
"But it's a tournament-type of atmosphere for us. We're in a little bit of a hole from where we thought we would be at this point but we control our fate the rest of the way out. We feel really good about our chances going into the weekend and honestly, we feel really good about our arms rounding into the shape as we're in the midseason here."+
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Black, Mason (1-0)
L: THEODORELLIS (0-1)
S: Stamford, Matt (1)
Batting:
2B: MERCIER, B. 1 ; ROSALES, G. 1
RBI: ROSALES, G. 1 ; BRODSKY, N. 1
SH: BRODSKY, N. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MERCIER, B. 1 ; ROSALES, G. 2
CS: RUSH, N. 1
HBP: ROMANO, B. 1
Batting:
3B: Sweeney, Gerard 1
HR: Schumacher, Thomas 1
RBI: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Gallo, Tony 1 ; DiLoreto, Tim 1 ; Schreiner, Tyler 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Schumacher, Thomas 3
SF: Schreiner, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Maguire, Mike 3 ; Sweeney, Gerard 2 ; Shanfeldt, Jeff 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Schumacher, Thomas 1
CS: Carlson, Chase 1
HBP: DiLoreto, Tim 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
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