Friday, February 18
Davidson, N.C.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
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Davidson
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Lehigh
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Davidson
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Photo by: Lisa Stamford
Lehigh spins four-hit, 5-0 shutout of Davidson on Opening Night
2/18/2022 11:36:00 PM | Baseball
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Senior lefty Luke Rettig, sophomore right-hander Tyler Thompson and junior righty Will Grisack combined to twirl a four-hit, 5-0 shutout of Davidson in the 2022 season opener Friday evening as the Mountain Hawks (1-0) start the year with a win for the second season in a row. It marks the second consecutive season Lehigh spun a shutout victory on Opening Day.
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"I thought our pitchers were outstanding tonight," said head coach Sean Leary. "They went out and competed and all three guys super effective and honestly, every time they got in trouble, they just got tougher. They battled through the jams they were in, but overall for the first effort to have 10 strikeouts and three walks, that's a pretty impressive outing for all three of them."
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On the offensive end, Lehigh tallied 10 hits as first years Jake Whitlinger (3-for-4) and Rafe Perich (2-for-4) went a combined 5-for-8 from the plate with two RBIs and two walks and sophomore Riley Davis went 2-for-4 with an RBI to kickstart the Mountain Hawks' new campaign.
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"Jake and Rafe were certainly the catalysts for our offense today," said Leary. "They were on base, they were scoring runs and then Jake came up with probably the biggest hit of the game, which gave us a little distance when it was 3-0. Both of those guys just had great at-bats today and batting 1-2 in the lineup isn't an easy task for two guys playing their first Division I games. They provided major energy for us and really paced our offense all night."
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Lehigh struck first in the top of the fourth inning as Adam Retzbach got on with a lead-off single, advancing to second after Andrew Nole grounded out to second base. With one out, Drew Morse struck out swinging but reached first on a passed ball as Retzbach ran to third base. A single for Davis brought in Retzbach to give the Mountain Hawks an early 1-0 lead.
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"Our middle infield defense (Davis and Young) were excellent today," Leary said. "And Riley had two big hits for us, one to get us on the board and later a great bunt single to load the bases. He played an all-around solid game."
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The Mountain Hawks added one more run in the seventh inning to a take a 2-0 lead following two one-out knocks off the bats of Whitlinger and Perich. They both got into scoring position on a wild pitch and Whitlinger scored after Casey Rother grounded out to the shortstop.
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A three-run eighth inning put a dagger in the 5-0 victory for Lehigh as Nole kicked things off with a single to left center field, advancing to second base on a throwing error on the pitcher. Morse was hit by the pitcher to put runners on first and second with no outs. Davis came through with a no-out bunt single to load the bases and with one away in the inning, Nole scored on a wild pitch to take a 3-0 lead. Tyler Young walked to load the bases again and Whitlinger drove a pitch down the right-field line for a two-RBI single, scoring Davis and Morse to give the Mountain Hawks a 5-0 cushion heading into the bottom of the eighth.
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"I really thought Davidson's pitching was outstanding tonight," said Leary. "Even though we had a couple situations where we thought we could get a few more runs in there, we had to scrap because those guys were very talented and every run that we got we had to earn. That eighth inning we sort of broke through a little bit. We had a couple spots where we just got one and then we got another one across when Jake came up with a big hit. When we have pitching like that to face in the first game, we know it was going to be tough to score runs so when we tacked on a couple runs late there, it just helped Billy (Grisack) relax and knowing he had a bigger lead, he just kept attacking and he was pretty outstanding tonight."
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Grisack made easy work of the Wildcats in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing just one baserunner (a single to center field), but got John Hosmer to ground out to shortstop on the very first pitch of the at-bat to retire the side.
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Lehigh had opportunities to take on runs in the top of the ninth after a lead-off walk for Retzbach and Nole reaching on a fielder's choice, but with runners on the corners, Chase Carlson grounded out to first base unassisted to leave the runners stranded.
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Grisack came in to pitch his third consecutive frame, striking out two of three batters he faced to earn his first save of the 2022 campaign.
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Rettig ended up throwing four shutout innings, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts and a walk on 78 pitches. Thompson threw the next two innings, striking out three with just one hit and one walk, while Grisack shut the door to earn the three-inning save with one hit allowed, three strikeouts and a walk, facing 10 batters and kept the ball low with five groundouts.
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Aside from key offensive performances from Whitlinger, Perich and Davis, the trio of Retzbach, Nole and Morse each tallied one of Lehigh's 10 hits for the first night.
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The Mountain Hawks will look to take the series on Saturday night vs. Davidson at Wilson Field with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Junior right-hander Carlos Torres will get the start for Lehigh against the Wildcats.
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"We're excited to get going again with Carlos getting his first career start," said Leary. "We like our depth in the bullpen and with everyone on a pitch count this weekend, that's something I'm self-imposing on the guys. We know we're going to have to have similar contributions tomorrow from more than just nine starters and more than just one pitcher so we're anxious to see how we'll respond.
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"This is a quality opponent, so any time we go on the road and have a chance to win a series, it's something that would be a positive start to the season."
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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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"I thought our pitchers were outstanding tonight," said head coach Sean Leary. "They went out and competed and all three guys super effective and honestly, every time they got in trouble, they just got tougher. They battled through the jams they were in, but overall for the first effort to have 10 strikeouts and three walks, that's a pretty impressive outing for all three of them."
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On the offensive end, Lehigh tallied 10 hits as first years Jake Whitlinger (3-for-4) and Rafe Perich (2-for-4) went a combined 5-for-8 from the plate with two RBIs and two walks and sophomore Riley Davis went 2-for-4 with an RBI to kickstart the Mountain Hawks' new campaign.
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"Jake and Rafe were certainly the catalysts for our offense today," said Leary. "They were on base, they were scoring runs and then Jake came up with probably the biggest hit of the game, which gave us a little distance when it was 3-0. Both of those guys just had great at-bats today and batting 1-2 in the lineup isn't an easy task for two guys playing their first Division I games. They provided major energy for us and really paced our offense all night."
Â
Lehigh struck first in the top of the fourth inning as Adam Retzbach got on with a lead-off single, advancing to second after Andrew Nole grounded out to second base. With one out, Drew Morse struck out swinging but reached first on a passed ball as Retzbach ran to third base. A single for Davis brought in Retzbach to give the Mountain Hawks an early 1-0 lead.
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"Our middle infield defense (Davis and Young) were excellent today," Leary said. "And Riley had two big hits for us, one to get us on the board and later a great bunt single to load the bases. He played an all-around solid game."
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The Mountain Hawks added one more run in the seventh inning to a take a 2-0 lead following two one-out knocks off the bats of Whitlinger and Perich. They both got into scoring position on a wild pitch and Whitlinger scored after Casey Rother grounded out to the shortstop.
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A three-run eighth inning put a dagger in the 5-0 victory for Lehigh as Nole kicked things off with a single to left center field, advancing to second base on a throwing error on the pitcher. Morse was hit by the pitcher to put runners on first and second with no outs. Davis came through with a no-out bunt single to load the bases and with one away in the inning, Nole scored on a wild pitch to take a 3-0 lead. Tyler Young walked to load the bases again and Whitlinger drove a pitch down the right-field line for a two-RBI single, scoring Davis and Morse to give the Mountain Hawks a 5-0 cushion heading into the bottom of the eighth.
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"I really thought Davidson's pitching was outstanding tonight," said Leary. "Even though we had a couple situations where we thought we could get a few more runs in there, we had to scrap because those guys were very talented and every run that we got we had to earn. That eighth inning we sort of broke through a little bit. We had a couple spots where we just got one and then we got another one across when Jake came up with a big hit. When we have pitching like that to face in the first game, we know it was going to be tough to score runs so when we tacked on a couple runs late there, it just helped Billy (Grisack) relax and knowing he had a bigger lead, he just kept attacking and he was pretty outstanding tonight."
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Grisack made easy work of the Wildcats in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing just one baserunner (a single to center field), but got John Hosmer to ground out to shortstop on the very first pitch of the at-bat to retire the side.
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Lehigh had opportunities to take on runs in the top of the ninth after a lead-off walk for Retzbach and Nole reaching on a fielder's choice, but with runners on the corners, Chase Carlson grounded out to first base unassisted to leave the runners stranded.
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Grisack came in to pitch his third consecutive frame, striking out two of three batters he faced to earn his first save of the 2022 campaign.
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Rettig ended up throwing four shutout innings, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts and a walk on 78 pitches. Thompson threw the next two innings, striking out three with just one hit and one walk, while Grisack shut the door to earn the three-inning save with one hit allowed, three strikeouts and a walk, facing 10 batters and kept the ball low with five groundouts.
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Aside from key offensive performances from Whitlinger, Perich and Davis, the trio of Retzbach, Nole and Morse each tallied one of Lehigh's 10 hits for the first night.
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The Mountain Hawks will look to take the series on Saturday night vs. Davidson at Wilson Field with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Junior right-hander Carlos Torres will get the start for Lehigh against the Wildcats.
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"We're excited to get going again with Carlos getting his first career start," said Leary. "We like our depth in the bullpen and with everyone on a pitch count this weekend, that's something I'm self-imposing on the guys. We know we're going to have to have similar contributions tomorrow from more than just nine starters and more than just one pitcher so we're anxious to see how we'll respond.
Â
"This is a quality opponent, so any time we go on the road and have a chance to win a series, it's something that would be a positive start to the season."
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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: Rettig, Luke (1-0)
L: DEVOS, Nolan (0-1)
S: Grisack, Will (1)
Batting:
2B: Morse, Drew 1
RBI: Whitlinger, Jake 2 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Davis, Riley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1 ; Nole, Andrew 1 ; Morse, Drew 1 ; Davis, Riley 1
HBP: Morse, Drew 1 ; Davis, Riley 1
Batting:
2B: CANDELARIA, Trevor 1 ; PUTNAM, Eli 1
Base Running:
HBP: CARICO, Michael 1 ; DOUGLAS, Tyler 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/IF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballIF/RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballC/1B
/ Baseball
OF/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF/IF
/ Baseball
IF
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