Saturday, April 13
Bethlehem, PA.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Navy
Photo by: Brent Hugo
Offensive powers Lehigh, Navy to square off in three-game series at Walker Field
4/12/2019 4:55:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — It will be a battle of the Patriot League's two best run-scoring teams as Lehigh baseball hosts the Navy Midshipmen for three games from J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park starting with a noon doubleheader Saturday and a single game at noon Sunday.
The Mountain Hawks are looking to improve upon their 3-7 Patriot League mark and will play their first first home league series at Walker Field since Mar. 23-24 vs. Lafayette, where Lehigh dropped three of four games to its archrival Leopards.
Lehigh is coming off a motivating non-league victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, where the Mountain Hawks swept the home-and-home series with the Knights by taking an 8-3 win on Wednesday at home. Freshman right-hander Mason Black dominated in his third career start, earning his first collegiate victory by posting six strong innings without allowing an earned run, giving up just three hits with six strikeouts. Freshman left-hander Matt Stamford shut the door for his first career save, throwing the final three innings, allowing just two runs on
Offensively, the Mountain Hawks continued to score runs behind a three-run jack for Thomas Schumacher, his second of the year and an RBI triple for freshman Gerard Sweeney, who continues to see his average rise, now up to .272 on the season. Junior Tony Gallo has also had success at the dish this season, with a .298 average (34-for-114) with seven doubles, three home runs and 26 RBIs. Both Gallo and senior Jeff Shanfeldt, who represented Lehigh on All-Patriot League teams in 2018, are now coming into form on the field, as Shanfeldt is hitting .315 through 31 games this year. His 11 doubles are good enough for third in the league.
Ethan Frohman is scheduled to get his first start of the season on Saturday in Game 1. The senior lefty is 3-0 with a 3.49 ERA in nine relief appearances, throwing 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a row, with 23 strikeouts on the year. His experience on the mound for the Mountain Hawks gives them a chance to work batters in hopes for getting the best of Navy senior right-hander Noah Song, who will get the start for the Midshipmen in Game 1 on Saturday afternoon.
Song has been excellent throughout his Lehigh career, and on Saturday, he will put his talents on display once again. The senior comes into the weekend with a perfect 6-0 record, an NCAA-leading 99 strikeouts and a K/9 of 16.92, which also leads the nation. Song has double digit strikeouts in every game this season except for his last start against Holy Cross, where he struck out nine batters. He tied a career-high when he struck out 16 batters Mar. 9 vs. Cornell.
Other pitchers to look out for in the Navy bullpen are Trey Braithwaite and Trent Topping. Braithwaite comes into the weekend with the best ERA in the Patriot League at 1.04 in his 14 appearances on the year. He has allowed just two earned runs in 17 1/3 innings, helping himself to six saves. Topping is 1-2 with an ERA of 2.86 in 14 relief opportunities, striking out 11 batters in 22 innings of work. Jared Leins (1-1, 4.12 ERA) and Charlie Connolly (3-2, 3.60 ERA) are both efficient starters who are projected to take the hill in Games 2 and 3, respectively for Navy.
Navy's offense has also been impressive this season, going toe-to-toe with Lehigh statistically in a number of categories including home runs, where the teams are tied at 26. Christian Hodge enters the weekend as the Patriot League-leader in home runs with nine so far, one ahead of Lehigh senior Ryan Malloy. Hodge is also the league-leader in RBIs with 38. Despite still lacking the plate appearances to qualify as one of the league leaders in average, Zach Stevens has been fabulous at bat for the Midshipmen this season, hitting .373 (31-for-83) with five doubles, three triples, two home runs and 18 RBIs, also walking 16 times with an on-base percentage of .500 and a slugging percentage of .578.
Navy leads the all-time series with Lehigh, 83-45, with the Midshipmen last gaining the edge over the Mountain Hawks Apr. 28, 2018, 6-1.
Sunday's single game is currently scheduled to begin at noon with coverage of the game set to air live on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks are looking to improve upon their 3-7 Patriot League mark and will play their first first home league series at Walker Field since Mar. 23-24 vs. Lafayette, where Lehigh dropped three of four games to its archrival Leopards.
Lehigh is coming off a motivating non-league victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, where the Mountain Hawks swept the home-and-home series with the Knights by taking an 8-3 win on Wednesday at home. Freshman right-hander Mason Black dominated in his third career start, earning his first collegiate victory by posting six strong innings without allowing an earned run, giving up just three hits with six strikeouts. Freshman left-hander Matt Stamford shut the door for his first career save, throwing the final three innings, allowing just two runs on
Offensively, the Mountain Hawks continued to score runs behind a three-run jack for Thomas Schumacher, his second of the year and an RBI triple for freshman Gerard Sweeney, who continues to see his average rise, now up to .272 on the season. Junior Tony Gallo has also had success at the dish this season, with a .298 average (34-for-114) with seven doubles, three home runs and 26 RBIs. Both Gallo and senior Jeff Shanfeldt, who represented Lehigh on All-Patriot League teams in 2018, are now coming into form on the field, as Shanfeldt is hitting .315 through 31 games this year. His 11 doubles are good enough for third in the league.
Ethan Frohman is scheduled to get his first start of the season on Saturday in Game 1. The senior lefty is 3-0 with a 3.49 ERA in nine relief appearances, throwing 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a row, with 23 strikeouts on the year. His experience on the mound for the Mountain Hawks gives them a chance to work batters in hopes for getting the best of Navy senior right-hander Noah Song, who will get the start for the Midshipmen in Game 1 on Saturday afternoon.
Song has been excellent throughout his Lehigh career, and on Saturday, he will put his talents on display once again. The senior comes into the weekend with a perfect 6-0 record, an NCAA-leading 99 strikeouts and a K/9 of 16.92, which also leads the nation. Song has double digit strikeouts in every game this season except for his last start against Holy Cross, where he struck out nine batters. He tied a career-high when he struck out 16 batters Mar. 9 vs. Cornell.
Other pitchers to look out for in the Navy bullpen are Trey Braithwaite and Trent Topping. Braithwaite comes into the weekend with the best ERA in the Patriot League at 1.04 in his 14 appearances on the year. He has allowed just two earned runs in 17 1/3 innings, helping himself to six saves. Topping is 1-2 with an ERA of 2.86 in 14 relief opportunities, striking out 11 batters in 22 innings of work. Jared Leins (1-1, 4.12 ERA) and Charlie Connolly (3-2, 3.60 ERA) are both efficient starters who are projected to take the hill in Games 2 and 3, respectively for Navy.
Navy's offense has also been impressive this season, going toe-to-toe with Lehigh statistically in a number of categories including home runs, where the teams are tied at 26. Christian Hodge enters the weekend as the Patriot League-leader in home runs with nine so far, one ahead of Lehigh senior Ryan Malloy. Hodge is also the league-leader in RBIs with 38. Despite still lacking the plate appearances to qualify as one of the league leaders in average, Zach Stevens has been fabulous at bat for the Midshipmen this season, hitting .373 (31-for-83) with five doubles, three triples, two home runs and 18 RBIs, also walking 16 times with an on-base percentage of .500 and a slugging percentage of .578.
Navy leads the all-time series with Lehigh, 83-45, with the Midshipmen last gaining the edge over the Mountain Hawks Apr. 28, 2018, 6-1.
Sunday's single game is currently scheduled to begin at noon with coverage of the game set to air live on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
🗣: Senior left fielder Ryan Malloy talks about playing Navy this upcoming weekend and how his team can build off playing the first place Midshipmen and continue to improve their Patriot League standing. #GoLehigh #RTTR pic.twitter.com/eGDCh4GBGt
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) April 12, 2019
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