Mountain Hawks improve to 9-2 in Patriot League play with Saturday sweep at Bucknell

Saturday, April 10

Lewisburg, Pa.

12 p.m.

Lehigh University

11-7, 0

Bucknell

5-14, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Lehigh	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	6	10	0
Bucknell	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	3	9	0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Lehigh	1	1	0	0	0	0	5	1	1	9	13	2
Bucknell	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	4	8	13	1

Photo by: Hannahally Photography

4/10/2021 7:03:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team continued its historic start to the 2021 season with two dominant victories Saturday afternoon at DePew Field, taking the first game over Bucknell 6-3 and the second, 9-8. The Mountain Hawks (12-7, 9-2 PL) are off to their best start to league play in program history and have claimed four of five against the Bison (5-15, 5-11 PL) so far this season with four games left to play against the team.

Junior Joe Gorla was excellent in all facets of both contests especially on offense, going 3-for-3 with an RBI in the first game and 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in the second game. Casey Rother continued his hot run with five hits between the first and second games.

Reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week Andrew Nole continued his strong play with a two-RBI double to right field in the top of the first inning to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 lead.

As junior right-hander Mason Black continued to dominate opposition and limit baserunners, Casey Rother scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 3-0. Adam Retzbach followed up the score with a single through the left side, scoring Joe Gorla to extend the lead to 4-2.

In the bottom of the inning, the Bison came through with a two-run home run to left field, the first home run given up by Black on the season. That cut the Lehigh lead in half at 4-2.

Rother's RBI single to right field advanced a runner over to third base and scored Quinn McKenna as Lehigh took a 5-2 lead. The Mountain Hawks extended the lead to 6-2 on a Gorla RBI single through the left side.

Bucknell added a run in the home half of the seventh off of senior right-hander Sam Wurth, but Lehigh held on for the 6-3 win.

Black went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. He's now 4-1 on the season with a 1.98 ERA. With his inning and a third of relief, Wurth earned his first save of the campaign.

The Mountain Hawks registered 10 hits as a team with three-hit outings for both Gorla and Rother.

In the second game, Gorla got things started with a single through the left side, scoring Rother as the Mountain Hawks stormed out in front, 1-0 in the top of the first.

Quinn McKenna's double to left center field scored Adam Retzbach to make it 2-0.

The Bison cut the Lehigh lead in half at 2-1 with a single through the right side of the field.

The Mountain Hawks broke the game open with a five-run top of the seventh inning. The inning was sparked by an RBI double to left field from Gerard Sweeney and followed up by a two-RBI double for Gorla to make it a 5-1 game. Andrew Nole's two-RBI single brought both Gorla and Rother home to make it 7-1.

In the eighth, it was Eric Cichocki that reached base on a single that scored McKenna to give the Mountain Hawks a seven-run advantage at 8-1.

The Bison scored three runs on two doubles and a throwing error in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Lehigh lead to 8-4, but Riley Davis made it 9-4 with an RBI single to center field in the top of the ninth.

Bucknell scratched and clawed back in the bottom of the ninth inning, hanging four runs off Lehigh reliever Will Grisack. With the Mountain Hawks leading 9-8 and two outs, Jacob Terwilliger flied out to center field to end the inning and the ballgame as Lehigh held on for the Saturday sweep and a 9-2 start to the 2021 Patriot League campaign.

The Mountain Hawks racked up 13 hits as a team in the second game of the afternoon with a pair each for four players including Cichocki, Rother, Gorla and McKenna. Gorla had three RBIs for the game and finished with five hits between the two games.

Senior right-hander Matt Svanson went 4.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. He earned the win and is 3-2 on the season so far.

The Mountain Hawks will continue the weekend series with a single game against the Bison on Sunday afternoon at J. David Walker Field. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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