Monday, May 6
Bethlehem, Pa.
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
20-28, 0
0
vs
4
Holy Cross
21-29, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Holy Cross
0
0
0
1
0
3
0
4
5
0
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
1
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Mountain Hawks end 2019 campaign with Monday split against Holy Cross
5/6/2019 8:13:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh baseball started slow in the first game, but came away with a victory in Game 2, closing the book on the 2019 season with a Monday split against Holy Cross at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park. The Mountain Hawks finish the campaign with a 21-28 overall record and a 9-16 record in the Patriot League.
The first game could've gone better, as Lehigh looked to snap a season-long seven game losing streak, but the Mountain Hawks' offense wasn't able to get going, falling in shutout fashion, 4-0.
The Crusaders used single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to pull off the win, as Lehigh freshman lefty Luke Rettig (2-4) was charged with the loss after throwing 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits on four runs, one earned with a walk and six strikeouts.
The Mountain Hawks had the edge in hits, 8-5, as freshman third baseman Gerard Sweeney led the way going 2-for-3 with a walk, while six other players tallied a hit each.
The loss extended Lehigh's season-long losing streak to eight games and set up the final game of the season with a chance to go out on a high note.
Lehigh came out of the gate with a chip on its shoulder, looking to end 2019 with momentum heading into the 2020 season and junior Tony Gallo got the game started the right way with an RBI single to center field, scoring Sweeney to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
After Holy Cross evened the game in the third with a home run, the Mountain Hawks quickly answered back with junior Mike Maguire's double down the right field line, scoring both Gallo and senior Jeff Shanfeldt to extend the lead to 3-1.
Gallo crushed a ball over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth inning, which ended up being his seventh home run of the 2019 season to give Lehigh a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, after Holy Cross cut the deficit to 4-2, senior Ryan Malloy ended his career in the Brown and White with a bang, an RBI single to center field, scoring Gallo to give the Mountain Hawks a victorious 5-2 lead. The hit was Malloy's 100th of his career, getting the milestone with his final at bat.
Monday afternoon was truly the Mason Black show, as the freshman right-hander dazzled on the hill for the Mountain Hawks, tossing the team's first nine-inning complete game of the season and the first since Jason Reynolds at the tail-end of the 2018 season. In addition to going the distance, Black allowed just two earned runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight batters to finish his freshman season undefeated at 3-0 with an ERA of 4.36.
"I give a ton of credit to Mason today," said Leary. "It was an unbelievable performance for a freshman to go out and give us a complete game, but I told the guys that we wanted to send the seniors out with an effort they've played their whole careers with.
"We had a little bit of a lull in Game 1 when we didn't play our best baseball, so to see Mason set the tone and to see every senior have a contribution in the game was pretty exciting."
Gallo ended up finishing the game going 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs. Gallo finishes 2019 with a batting average of .321, 53 hits, seven home runs and 42 RBIs with a slugging percentage of .509 and an on-base percentage of .413.
Maguire went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and two RBIs, while junior Matt Hand also went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Malloy went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and finishes the 2019 campaign with a batting average of .309. He finishes his career with 100 career hits and 75 RBIs.
"I am so proud of this group of individuals who have meant so much to this program and for getting it to where it is now," said Leary about the senior class. "To all six of them, I just say 'thank you' for everything."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (5/6/2019) Baseball vs. Holy Cross, 5/6/19
The first game could've gone better, as Lehigh looked to snap a season-long seven game losing streak, but the Mountain Hawks' offense wasn't able to get going, falling in shutout fashion, 4-0.
The Crusaders used single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to pull off the win, as Lehigh freshman lefty Luke Rettig (2-4) was charged with the loss after throwing 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits on four runs, one earned with a walk and six strikeouts.
The Mountain Hawks had the edge in hits, 8-5, as freshman third baseman Gerard Sweeney led the way going 2-for-3 with a walk, while six other players tallied a hit each.
The loss extended Lehigh's season-long losing streak to eight games and set up the final game of the season with a chance to go out on a high note.
Lehigh came out of the gate with a chip on its shoulder, looking to end 2019 with momentum heading into the 2020 season and junior Tony Gallo got the game started the right way with an RBI single to center field, scoring Sweeney to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
After Holy Cross evened the game in the third with a home run, the Mountain Hawks quickly answered back with junior Mike Maguire's double down the right field line, scoring both Gallo and senior Jeff Shanfeldt to extend the lead to 3-1.
Gallo crushed a ball over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth inning, which ended up being his seventh home run of the 2019 season to give Lehigh a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, after Holy Cross cut the deficit to 4-2, senior Ryan Malloy ended his career in the Brown and White with a bang, an RBI single to center field, scoring Gallo to give the Mountain Hawks a victorious 5-2 lead. The hit was Malloy's 100th of his career, getting the milestone with his final at bat.
Monday afternoon was truly the Mason Black show, as the freshman right-hander dazzled on the hill for the Mountain Hawks, tossing the team's first nine-inning complete game of the season and the first since Jason Reynolds at the tail-end of the 2018 season. In addition to going the distance, Black allowed just two earned runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight batters to finish his freshman season undefeated at 3-0 with an ERA of 4.36.
"I give a ton of credit to Mason today," said Leary. "It was an unbelievable performance for a freshman to go out and give us a complete game, but I told the guys that we wanted to send the seniors out with an effort they've played their whole careers with.
"We had a little bit of a lull in Game 1 when we didn't play our best baseball, so to see Mason set the tone and to see every senior have a contribution in the game was pretty exciting."
Gallo ended up finishing the game going 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs. Gallo finishes 2019 with a batting average of .321, 53 hits, seven home runs and 42 RBIs with a slugging percentage of .509 and an on-base percentage of .413.
Maguire went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and two RBIs, while junior Matt Hand also went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Malloy went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and finishes the 2019 campaign with a batting average of .309. He finishes his career with 100 career hits and 75 RBIs.
"I am so proud of this group of individuals who have meant so much to this program and for getting it to where it is now," said Leary about the senior class. "To all six of them, I just say 'thank you' for everything."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McGowan, Pat (2-8)
L: Rettig, Luke (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Malgeri, Ben 1
RBI: Masel, Austin 1 ; Buck, Zach 1 ; Kale, David 1 ; Volpi, Alex 1
SF: Volpi, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Malgeri, Ben 1 ; Buck, Zach 1 ; Selima, Andrew 1 ; Kale, David 1
SB: Masel, Austin 1 ; Kale, David 1
HBP: Rinaldi, Chris 1 ; Selima, Andrew 1 ; Gionis, Alex 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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RHP
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