Saturday, May 15
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
22-16
10
vs
5
Navy (Semifinals)
16-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Navy
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
5
10
3
Lehigh
0
2
0
3
0
4
0
1
X
10
13
1
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh, Navy split two Patriot League semifinal games to force Game 3 Sunday
5/15/2021 8:19:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After a dominating performance both offensively and on the mound by lefty Matt Stamford in the first game, the bats fell silent in Game 2, as Lehigh and Navy split the first two games of the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, forcing a deciding Game 3 on Sunday afternoon at J. David Walker Field.
Junior right-hander Mason Black struggled to find his stride early in the game, going just four innings on 99 pitches, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts, but Stamford came into the game in the fifth and shoved, going five strong shutout frames, giving up just two walks and three hits with three strikeouts to pick up the victory.
"Matt has been pretty terrific this season," said head coach Sean Leary. "His role has been the fourth starter and we mostly have three-game weekends. So sometimes he starts and sometimes he's called on in the most difficult situation in the game. He stabilized the ballgame and let our offense take it from there. He was definitely the guy that turned the momentum for us."
Despite the outing, Black struck out his fifth batter of the game and became the program's single season record holder for strikeouts with 95, passing all-time great Craig Anderson '60, who set the record 61 years ago in 1960.
"It's arguable that Craig Anderson is the most successful pitcher that's ever worn the uniform here," Leary said. "I think everyone would say that Coach A is that guy. So anytime your name is in the same sentence as him is pretty awesome. I know Craig was here today to watch him and drove up from Florida to see us. He said he's excited to pass the baton after 61 years. For Mason to be in the same breath as him is a wonderful compliment."
Joe Gorla set the tone at the plate early in the second inning with a home run to left center field, his second of the season, to give Lehigh the 1-0 lead. A Riley Davis single to the same spot drove in Adam Retzbach to take a 2-0 lead in the same inning.
Navy's big inning came in the fourth with five consecutive runs on four singles off Black to storm ahead, 5-2.
However, Lehigh's offense would not be denied, providing power in the fourth inning with Quinn McKenna's solo shot followed by a two-run bomb for Gerard Sweeney to tie the game at 5-5.
Gorla swatted his second homer of the game in the sixth, a two-run shot to left field to put Lehigh up 7-5. The Mountain Hawks then scored two more on an E5 to take a 9-5 lead.
In the eighth on a double steal, McKenna stole second and Retzbach stole home to make it a 10-5, as the score held and Lehigh got the Game 1 victory.
Gorla was a force, going 4-for-5 with two homers, two runs scored and three RBIs. Andrew Nole went 3-for-5, while the Mountain Hawks totaled four home runs (two for Gorla and one each for Sweeney and McKenna).
For a while, it seemed like two solo home runs would be the difference in the second game of the afternoon.
After homering in the first game, Sweeney hit a solo shot over the right center field fence on a 3-2 pitch in the third inning to put Lehigh out in front, 1-0.
It took until the seventh inning for Joe Simourian to make it a 1-1 game on his solo shot. And then in the top of the 10th, Logan Keller's two-run homer gave the Midshipmen the momentum needed to hold steady and come through with the 3-1 win to force Game 3 Sunday.
Matt Svanson was solid in his start, going 6.1 innings, allowing just a single run on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Sam Wurth threw three innings and allowed the two runs on the homer, scattering four hits with two strikeouts. He was charged with the loss for the third time this season.
Joe Gorla went 3-for-5 in the second game and finished the day going 7-for-9 at the plate with two homers. Sweeney went 3-for-4 with his solo homer in the third inning and Tyler Young added two hits in four at-bats.
Lehigh will turn to left-hander Luke Rettig on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. for the third game of the series at Walker Field.
"Luke will need to do what our pitchers have done all season: Get us a good start," said Leary. "Quite frankly, we'll need to secure the routine plays which we did pretty well today overall. It really comes down to two or three clutch hits. Whoever gets those is going to be moving on the finals."
The winner will advance to the Patriot League Championship series to face the winner of Lafayette/Army West Point. The Mountain Hawks are looking to play for a Patriot League title for the first time since 2015. Tomorrow's game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (5-15-2021) Baseball vs. Navy PL Semis, 5/15/2021
Junior right-hander Mason Black struggled to find his stride early in the game, going just four innings on 99 pitches, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts, but Stamford came into the game in the fifth and shoved, going five strong shutout frames, giving up just two walks and three hits with three strikeouts to pick up the victory.
"Matt has been pretty terrific this season," said head coach Sean Leary. "His role has been the fourth starter and we mostly have three-game weekends. So sometimes he starts and sometimes he's called on in the most difficult situation in the game. He stabilized the ballgame and let our offense take it from there. He was definitely the guy that turned the momentum for us."
Despite the outing, Black struck out his fifth batter of the game and became the program's single season record holder for strikeouts with 95, passing all-time great Craig Anderson '60, who set the record 61 years ago in 1960.
"It's arguable that Craig Anderson is the most successful pitcher that's ever worn the uniform here," Leary said. "I think everyone would say that Coach A is that guy. So anytime your name is in the same sentence as him is pretty awesome. I know Craig was here today to watch him and drove up from Florida to see us. He said he's excited to pass the baton after 61 years. For Mason to be in the same breath as him is a wonderful compliment."
Joe Gorla set the tone at the plate early in the second inning with a home run to left center field, his second of the season, to give Lehigh the 1-0 lead. A Riley Davis single to the same spot drove in Adam Retzbach to take a 2-0 lead in the same inning.
Navy's big inning came in the fourth with five consecutive runs on four singles off Black to storm ahead, 5-2.
However, Lehigh's offense would not be denied, providing power in the fourth inning with Quinn McKenna's solo shot followed by a two-run bomb for Gerard Sweeney to tie the game at 5-5.
Gorla swatted his second homer of the game in the sixth, a two-run shot to left field to put Lehigh up 7-5. The Mountain Hawks then scored two more on an E5 to take a 9-5 lead.
In the eighth on a double steal, McKenna stole second and Retzbach stole home to make it a 10-5, as the score held and Lehigh got the Game 1 victory.
Gorla was a force, going 4-for-5 with two homers, two runs scored and three RBIs. Andrew Nole went 3-for-5, while the Mountain Hawks totaled four home runs (two for Gorla and one each for Sweeney and McKenna).
For a while, it seemed like two solo home runs would be the difference in the second game of the afternoon.
After homering in the first game, Sweeney hit a solo shot over the right center field fence on a 3-2 pitch in the third inning to put Lehigh out in front, 1-0.
It took until the seventh inning for Joe Simourian to make it a 1-1 game on his solo shot. And then in the top of the 10th, Logan Keller's two-run homer gave the Midshipmen the momentum needed to hold steady and come through with the 3-1 win to force Game 3 Sunday.
Matt Svanson was solid in his start, going 6.1 innings, allowing just a single run on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Sam Wurth threw three innings and allowed the two runs on the homer, scattering four hits with two strikeouts. He was charged with the loss for the third time this season.
Joe Gorla went 3-for-5 in the second game and finished the day going 7-for-9 at the plate with two homers. Sweeney went 3-for-4 with his solo homer in the third inning and Tyler Young added two hits in four at-bats.
Lehigh will turn to left-hander Luke Rettig on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. for the third game of the series at Walker Field.
"Luke will need to do what our pitchers have done all season: Get us a good start," said Leary. "Quite frankly, we'll need to secure the routine plays which we did pretty well today overall. It really comes down to two or three clutch hits. Whoever gets those is going to be moving on the finals."
The winner will advance to the Patriot League Championship series to face the winner of Lafayette/Army West Point. The Mountain Hawks are looking to play for a Patriot League title for the first time since 2015. Tomorrow's game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stamford, Matt (3-1)
L: Mitchell, Nate (0-2)
Batting:
RBI: Diaz, Eduardo 1 ; Policelli, Christian 1 ; Keller, Logan 1 ; Smith, Colin 1 ; Simourian, Joe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Policelli, Christian 1 ; Stevens, Zach 1 ; Valdez, Nico 1 ; Smith, Colin 1 ; Rausch, Kyle 1
Batting:
HR: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Gorla, Joe 2 ; McKenna, Quinn 1
RBI: Sweeney, Gerard 2 ; Gorla, Joe 3 ; McKenna, Quinn 1 ; Davis, Riley 1
SH: McKenna, Quinn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cichocki , Eric 1 ; Sweeney, Gerard 2 ; Gorla, Joe 2 ; Retzbach, Adam 3 ; Nole, Andrew 1 ; McKenna, Quinn 1
SB: Retzbach, Adam 1 ; McKenna, Quinn 2
HBP: Cichocki , Eric 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
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LHP
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LHP
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IF
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