Saturday, March 20
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-5
3
vs
2
Delaware
2-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Delaware
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
6
0
Lehigh
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
X
3
5
1
Photo by: Lisa Stamford
Pitching helps Lehigh salvage Saturday split with Delaware
3/20/2021 9:37:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A two-run, go-ahead home run for Casey Rother in the eighth inning of the first game was the difference-maker as the Lehigh baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader against Delaware at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park. The Mountain Hawks, who got back to .500 with the first victory, are now 5-6 through their first 11 games of the 2021 season.
"I think every day we play, we get a little better," said head coach Sean Leary. "And yet we still have some areas where the reps are going to help. Our pitching has kept us in every ballgame this season, Mason and Luke were outstanding. That was the key in Game 1, the pitching and then one key hit.
"For the second game, we're still figuring out our lineup one through nine. I think maybe three weeks from now, we'll see what our everyday lineup is going to be because we're going to see and learn who we are a little bit more. I thought Matt [Svanson] pitched outstanding, we just had some miscues in the field. But if we throw the ball like this, we're going to be in every ballgame, which is really what it's all about."
Pitching was solid in the first game, led by junior right-hander Mason Black, who threw six strong innings, allowing just an earned run while scattering six hits and striking out six batters. Despite struggling early, junior lefty Luke Rettig settled in and pitched three no-hit innings without allowing a run, walking two and striking out three to earn his first victory of the season.
The Blue Hens ended up scoring the first run of the ballgame in the top of the first inning after Jack Goan reached base on a passed ball after striking out, scoring Kyle Baker to put UD up, 1-0.
In the bottom of the inning, Eric Cichocki scored on Adam Retzbach's grounder to third base to tie the game up at 1.
Baker put Delaware ahead by one, 2-1 on a single to left field in the fifth inning. But it was Rother who came through in the bottom of the eighth with Cam Hubbard on base, drilling a ball over the left field fence on a 1-1 count to end up winning the game for Lehigh, 3-2. The long ball was Rother's third of the season.
Cichocki continued to hit for the Mountain Hawks, going 2-for-3, while Rother, Gerard Sweeney and Tyler Young each added a single knock to the hit total.
In the sixth, Joey Loynd reached on an error, scoring Kyle Baker to put the Blue Hens ahead, 4-0. On a 2-2 pitch in the seventh, Joseph Carpenter homered off of Matt Stamford to allow Delaware to hang on for the 5-0 win.
Senior righty Matt Svanson got the start, going six innings, allowing four runs on four hits, one earned with five strikeouts. Freshman righty Lucas Rich pitched an inning and struck out two of four batters he faced.
Five different Mountain Hawks each recorded a hit, including Cichocki's double, which extended his hitting streak to seven straight games. The senior has a hit in 10 of the 11 games so far, is hitting .463 (19-for-41) with a .634 slugging, .545 on-base percentage and a 1.219 OPS.
"I think the most impressive thing about Eric is that he's hitting close to .500 and he's willing to put a sacrifice bunt or drag bunt down, he's doing whatever the team needs," said Leary. "It's coming from three years of work and experience and keeps grinding. There's nobody that is putting more hours in off of a tee. You get excited as a coach when you have someone who is rewarded for their hard work and our kids are so excited for him whenever he gets on base. It's awesome to see."
Lehigh will continue on with Patriot League play, facing archrival Lafayette for a doubleheader in Easton on Mar. 27, followed by two games at Walker Field on Mar. 28. This will be just the second Patriot League series for the Mountain Hawks so far, after the Navy series was postponed this past weekend.
"I think these kids over the last 365 days have had to adjust their mindset almost on a weekly basis," Leary said. "So when you think you're playing Holy Cross, then you're playing Albany and then we are playing Bucknell all within 48 hours last week and this week, we didn't find out we weren't playing Navy until Thursday afternoon and then we had to play Delaware, I just give them credit because our guys are just rolling with the punches.
"I think our inconsistencies to open the season has a little bit to do with the fact that we don't have a schedule or structure. And yet I don't think that'll change all year, so this is almost like an on-the-job learning experience. Next weekend, we hope we don't have an adjustment, because every senior looks forward to the Rivalry series and every freshman wants to see what it's like. It would be nice to get into Week 5 and actually play the team on our schedule."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
"I think every day we play, we get a little better," said head coach Sean Leary. "And yet we still have some areas where the reps are going to help. Our pitching has kept us in every ballgame this season, Mason and Luke were outstanding. That was the key in Game 1, the pitching and then one key hit.
"For the second game, we're still figuring out our lineup one through nine. I think maybe three weeks from now, we'll see what our everyday lineup is going to be because we're going to see and learn who we are a little bit more. I thought Matt [Svanson] pitched outstanding, we just had some miscues in the field. But if we throw the ball like this, we're going to be in every ballgame, which is really what it's all about."
Pitching was solid in the first game, led by junior right-hander Mason Black, who threw six strong innings, allowing just an earned run while scattering six hits and striking out six batters. Despite struggling early, junior lefty Luke Rettig settled in and pitched three no-hit innings without allowing a run, walking two and striking out three to earn his first victory of the season.
The Blue Hens ended up scoring the first run of the ballgame in the top of the first inning after Jack Goan reached base on a passed ball after striking out, scoring Kyle Baker to put UD up, 1-0.
In the bottom of the inning, Eric Cichocki scored on Adam Retzbach's grounder to third base to tie the game up at 1.
Baker put Delaware ahead by one, 2-1 on a single to left field in the fifth inning. But it was Rother who came through in the bottom of the eighth with Cam Hubbard on base, drilling a ball over the left field fence on a 1-1 count to end up winning the game for Lehigh, 3-2. The long ball was Rother's third of the season.
Cichocki continued to hit for the Mountain Hawks, going 2-for-3, while Rother, Gerard Sweeney and Tyler Young each added a single knock to the hit total.
Delaware got out in front from the get-go in Game 2, scoring three runs in the top of the second inning to take a quick 3-0 lead.Take a look at some highlights from our Saturday split vs. Delaware 👇 pic.twitter.com/OsJobvm2Mm
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 21, 2021
In the sixth, Joey Loynd reached on an error, scoring Kyle Baker to put the Blue Hens ahead, 4-0. On a 2-2 pitch in the seventh, Joseph Carpenter homered off of Matt Stamford to allow Delaware to hang on for the 5-0 win.
Senior righty Matt Svanson got the start, going six innings, allowing four runs on four hits, one earned with five strikeouts. Freshman righty Lucas Rich pitched an inning and struck out two of four batters he faced.
Five different Mountain Hawks each recorded a hit, including Cichocki's double, which extended his hitting streak to seven straight games. The senior has a hit in 10 of the 11 games so far, is hitting .463 (19-for-41) with a .634 slugging, .545 on-base percentage and a 1.219 OPS.
"I think the most impressive thing about Eric is that he's hitting close to .500 and he's willing to put a sacrifice bunt or drag bunt down, he's doing whatever the team needs," said Leary. "It's coming from three years of work and experience and keeps grinding. There's nobody that is putting more hours in off of a tee. You get excited as a coach when you have someone who is rewarded for their hard work and our kids are so excited for him whenever he gets on base. It's awesome to see."
Lehigh will continue on with Patriot League play, facing archrival Lafayette for a doubleheader in Easton on Mar. 27, followed by two games at Walker Field on Mar. 28. This will be just the second Patriot League series for the Mountain Hawks so far, after the Navy series was postponed this past weekend.
"I think these kids over the last 365 days have had to adjust their mindset almost on a weekly basis," Leary said. "So when you think you're playing Holy Cross, then you're playing Albany and then we are playing Bucknell all within 48 hours last week and this week, we didn't find out we weren't playing Navy until Thursday afternoon and then we had to play Delaware, I just give them credit because our guys are just rolling with the punches.
"I think our inconsistencies to open the season has a little bit to do with the fact that we don't have a schedule or structure. And yet I don't think that'll change all year, so this is almost like an on-the-job learning experience. Next weekend, we hope we don't have an adjustment, because every senior looks forward to the Rivalry series and every freshman wants to see what it's like. It would be nice to get into Week 5 and actually play the team on our schedule."
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rettig, Luke (1-1)
L: Ludman, Chris (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Hutchins, Jordan 1 ; Baker, Kyle 1 ; Riley, Aidan 1
RBI: Baker, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hutchins, Jordan 1 ; Baker, Kyle 1
CS: Hutchins, Jordan 1
HBP: Kane, Aidan 1
Batting:
2B: Sweeney, Gerard 1
HR: Rother, Casey 1
RBI: Rother, Casey 2 ; Retzbach, Adam 1
SH: Cichocki , Eric 1 ; Carlson, Chase 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cichocki , Eric 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Hubbard, Cam 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
cf/lf
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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