Saturday, April 24
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-12, 0
7
vs
4
Bucknell
8-17, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Bucknell
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
4
5
2
Lehigh
1
0
0
1
3
2
X
7
8
0
Lehigh and Bucknell split Saturday doubleheader
4/24/2021 9:22:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team used an all-around effort to defeat Bucknell in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, 7-4, but fell in a fast-paced nightcap, 3-1. To begin the day, junior Mason Black was dominant in striking out 12 batters in 5.2 innings. In game two, the Mountain Hawks were held down by Bison starting pitcher Will Greer, who finished a nine-inning complete game with just two strikeouts and no walks. Lehigh is now 15-13 on the season, 12-7 in Patriot League play, and remains atop the league standings by a half game over Army West Point.
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"Very well-played baseball today," said Lehigh head coach Sean Leary. "The second game – a nine-inning game – was less than two hours, which is unheard of. Both guys threw strikes. We hit about as many hard balls as we've hit in any one game and they didn't find any holes. We played very well, but just didn't catch any breaks."
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Black was the story on the mound in game one, allowing no hits through three innings and only two through five. The offense plated one run in the first inning, another in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 5-0 advantage. The biggest hit came from sophomore Adam Retzbach, a two-run double in the fifth.
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Bucknell rallied for four runs in the sixth to pull within one, but a two-run bottom of the sixth – capped off by an RBI double from junior Casey Rother – gave Lehigh a 7-4 advantage, which proved to be the final. Senior Sam Wurth pitched the final 1.1 innings for the save.
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"Mason staked us to an early lead and I thought it was a good example of our team keeping the pressure on, which kept adding runs late in the ballgame," said Leary. "That was a pure team win. There were contributions from the pitching, defense and I thought the offense did a nice job of tacking on runs late."
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Despite just one hit through the first eight innings of game two, the Mountain Hawks and Bison stood tied until the top of the eighth inning. That was due in large part to tough-luck loser, junior Luke Rettig, who allowed just six hits and two runs (both earned) through eight innings while striking out seven.
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Bucknell used a first-inning sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead before a Joe Gorla RBI double pulled Lehigh even in the fourth. That score stood until the Bison scored once in the eighth and another in the ninth, both on RBI singles, to take a 3-1 lead. Lehigh did get a pair of two-out hits in the ninth, but a pop out secured the win for Bucknell.
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At the plate, Rother finished game one 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Retzbach was 1-for-3 with two runs batted in. Senior Eric Cichocki was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. In game two, Gerard Sweeney was the only Mountain Hawk to reach base twice via a hit and hit by pitch. Rother finished the afternoon 3-for-7.
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"In the second game, it was tough to lose a game when you really didn't do a whole lot wrong," said Leary. "Very rarely does it happen that you feel good, guys hit the ball hard but we literally hit it right at them."
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Lehigh and Bucknell will meet again on Sunday in Lewisburg. Gametime is set for 2 p.m.
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Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"Very well-played baseball today," said Lehigh head coach Sean Leary. "The second game – a nine-inning game – was less than two hours, which is unheard of. Both guys threw strikes. We hit about as many hard balls as we've hit in any one game and they didn't find any holes. We played very well, but just didn't catch any breaks."
Â
Black was the story on the mound in game one, allowing no hits through three innings and only two through five. The offense plated one run in the first inning, another in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 5-0 advantage. The biggest hit came from sophomore Adam Retzbach, a two-run double in the fifth.
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Bucknell rallied for four runs in the sixth to pull within one, but a two-run bottom of the sixth – capped off by an RBI double from junior Casey Rother – gave Lehigh a 7-4 advantage, which proved to be the final. Senior Sam Wurth pitched the final 1.1 innings for the save.
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"Mason staked us to an early lead and I thought it was a good example of our team keeping the pressure on, which kept adding runs late in the ballgame," said Leary. "That was a pure team win. There were contributions from the pitching, defense and I thought the offense did a nice job of tacking on runs late."
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Despite just one hit through the first eight innings of game two, the Mountain Hawks and Bison stood tied until the top of the eighth inning. That was due in large part to tough-luck loser, junior Luke Rettig, who allowed just six hits and two runs (both earned) through eight innings while striking out seven.
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Bucknell used a first-inning sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead before a Joe Gorla RBI double pulled Lehigh even in the fourth. That score stood until the Bison scored once in the eighth and another in the ninth, both on RBI singles, to take a 3-1 lead. Lehigh did get a pair of two-out hits in the ninth, but a pop out secured the win for Bucknell.
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At the plate, Rother finished game one 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Retzbach was 1-for-3 with two runs batted in. Senior Eric Cichocki was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. In game two, Gerard Sweeney was the only Mountain Hawk to reach base twice via a hit and hit by pitch. Rother finished the afternoon 3-for-7.
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"In the second game, it was tough to lose a game when you really didn't do a whole lot wrong," said Leary. "Very rarely does it happen that you feel good, guys hit the ball hard but we literally hit it right at them."
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Lehigh and Bucknell will meet again on Sunday in Lewisburg. Gametime is set for 2 p.m.
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Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Black, Mason (5-2)
L: Austin Odell (0-3)
S: Wurth, Sam (3)
Batting:
2B: Caleb Broughton 1
RBI: Caleb Broughton 3 ; Anthony Sherwin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Peter Marren 1 ; Kendall Pierson 1 ; Logan Kellerman 1 ; Caleb Broughton 1
SB: Jacob Terwilliger 1 ; Caleb Broughton 1
HBP: Kendall Pierson 1
Batting:
2B: Cichocki , Eric 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1
RBI: Rother, Casey 2 ; Retzbach, Adam 2 ; McKenna, Quinn 1 ; Davis, Riley 1
SF: Rother, Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cichocki , Eric 2 ; Hubbard, Cam 1 ; Gorla, Joe 1 ; Nole, Andrew 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1 ; McKenna, Quinn 1
SB: McKenna, Quinn 2
HBP: Gorla, Joe 1 ; Nole, Andrew 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1 ; McKenna, Quinn 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
lf/1b
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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