Lehigh University Athletics
Sunday, April 4
Bethlehem, Pa.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
9-7, 6-2
3
vs
1
Navy
7-3, 3-3
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Navy
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
7
2
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
X
3
4
1
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Mountain Hawks shut down Navy, 3-1 for weekend series victory
4/4/2021 6:04:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa – Needing a victory to clinch a crucial series against Navy, the Lehigh baseball team got a complete effort once again, defeating the Midshipmen 3-1 Sunday afternoon at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park. The Mountain Hawks (9-7, 6-2 PL) earn their first regular season series victory over the Mids (7-3, 3-3 PL) since 2006.
"Navy has won the regular season title five years in a row and until someone beats them, they're the best team," said head coach Sean Leary. "So this was a playoff weekend for both teams. We both played at a level of what it's going to feel like in May. Our guys have developed a mantra that we need to go out and win series. That's what we've been able to do so far.
"But this was a little bit different because we haven't been beating them consistently in series. I think that gives our guys the confidence moving forward that we can play with anybody, but that's a terrific team and we need to execute at a high level to beat them and I was proud of our guys for doing that this weekend."
Freshman Andrew Nole continued his weekend dominance with a clutch two-run single in the sixth inning to take the lead and then senior right-hander Sam Wurth pitched brilliantly in relief, with four shutout innings allowing just three hits to earn his first win of the year.
"Once again, it was our pitching that did an outstanding job all-around," said Leary. "Matt [Stamford] got us four strong innings right off the bat and we had a pretty deep bullpen available for today. Lucas [Rich] got us through an inning and then Sam was just amazing. That was senior leadership there, especially with a layoff. He hasn't had a chance to pitch because we've been pitching so well. He went out there and was just the star at the end of the game.
"Overall, we scratched and clawed and Andrew Nole was the offensive hero all weekend."
The rest of the scoring was done in the bottom of the sixth inning for the Mountain Hawks when Joe Gorla reached on a fielder's choice to score Gerard Sweeney from third to tie the game up at 1.
Nole's single was the game-winning knock in that inning, as a relieving combination of Wurth and Lucas Rich held down the fort as the Mountain Hawks came away with the 3-1 win on Easter Sunday.
Senior right fielder Eric Cichocki was held without a hit, snapping his 11-game hitting streak, but his glove was the talk of the day, making a spectacular diving catch in the seventh inning to take away a run and the possibility of a triple for Nico Valdez.
"That play Eric made was spectacular," Leary said. "He's playing at a Patriot League MVP level right now both offensively and defensively. In a closely contested game, you usually need one clutch hit and one clutch defensive play and we happened to get that a couple times this weekend."
Casey Rother went 2-for-4 on the afternoon, playing his second straight game in left field. Quinn McKenna went 1-for-3 after making the start in center field.
Lefty Matt Stamford made the start for the Mountain Hawks, throwing four innings and allowing one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts.
With the win, Lehigh has now won four of its last five games and has a chance to take yet another season series against a Patriot League foe when it takes on archrival Lafayette Wednesday at 3 p.m. from Walker Field. The Mountain Hawks won the first two games of the series in Easton before the two-game doubleheader the following day was postponed due to rain.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (4-4-2021) Baseball vs. Navy, 4/4/2021
"Navy has won the regular season title five years in a row and until someone beats them, they're the best team," said head coach Sean Leary. "So this was a playoff weekend for both teams. We both played at a level of what it's going to feel like in May. Our guys have developed a mantra that we need to go out and win series. That's what we've been able to do so far.
"But this was a little bit different because we haven't been beating them consistently in series. I think that gives our guys the confidence moving forward that we can play with anybody, but that's a terrific team and we need to execute at a high level to beat them and I was proud of our guys for doing that this weekend."
Freshman Andrew Nole continued his weekend dominance with a clutch two-run single in the sixth inning to take the lead and then senior right-hander Sam Wurth pitched brilliantly in relief, with four shutout innings allowing just three hits to earn his first win of the year.
"Once again, it was our pitching that did an outstanding job all-around," said Leary. "Matt [Stamford] got us four strong innings right off the bat and we had a pretty deep bullpen available for today. Lucas [Rich] got us through an inning and then Sam was just amazing. That was senior leadership there, especially with a layoff. He hasn't had a chance to pitch because we've been pitching so well. He went out there and was just the star at the end of the game.
"Overall, we scratched and clawed and Andrew Nole was the offensive hero all weekend."
Navy struck first in the top of the fourth inning when Eduardo Diaz doubled down the left field line, pushing Ryan Duffey across to take the 1-0 lead.Oh, what a glorious feeling!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) April 4, 2021
Hawks are hot! 🔥#GoLehigh | #RTTR pic.twitter.com/wb7JWVP6M8
The rest of the scoring was done in the bottom of the sixth inning for the Mountain Hawks when Joe Gorla reached on a fielder's choice to score Gerard Sweeney from third to tie the game up at 1.
Nole's single was the game-winning knock in that inning, as a relieving combination of Wurth and Lucas Rich held down the fort as the Mountain Hawks came away with the 3-1 win on Easter Sunday.
Senior right fielder Eric Cichocki was held without a hit, snapping his 11-game hitting streak, but his glove was the talk of the day, making a spectacular diving catch in the seventh inning to take away a run and the possibility of a triple for Nico Valdez.
"That play Eric made was spectacular," Leary said. "He's playing at a Patriot League MVP level right now both offensively and defensively. In a closely contested game, you usually need one clutch hit and one clutch defensive play and we happened to get that a couple times this weekend."
Casey Rother went 2-for-4 on the afternoon, playing his second straight game in left field. Quinn McKenna went 1-for-3 after making the start in center field.
Lefty Matt Stamford made the start for the Mountain Hawks, throwing four innings and allowing one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts.
With the win, Lehigh has now won four of its last five games and has a chance to take yet another season series against a Patriot League foe when it takes on archrival Lafayette Wednesday at 3 p.m. from Walker Field. The Mountain Hawks won the first two games of the series in Easton before the two-game doubleheader the following day was postponed due to rain.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wurth, Sam (1-1)
L: Early, Reece (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Keller, Logan 1 ; Diaz, Eduardo 1
RBI: Diaz, Eduardo 1
SH: Diaz, Eduardo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duffey, Ryan 1
HBP: Policelli, Christian 1
Batting:
RBI: Gorla, Joe 1 ; Nole, Andrew 2
SH: Gorla, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Gorla, Joe 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1
CS: McKenna, Quinn 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball1B/RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
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