Lehigh University
1-2
Davidson
2-1
Lehigh's comeback attempt falls short in series finale defeat to Davidson
2/20/2022 6:59:00 PM | Baseball
Lehigh trailed 5-0 to open the contest and found itself down by as many as seven runs in the sixth inning before battling back to score four runs in the seventh via first year Justin Butler's grand slam.
Butler led the Mountain Hawks with a 3-for-5 showing, a double and a homer and four RBIs, while first year outfielder Jake Whitlinger went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored and senior first baseman Casey Rother went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. The Mountain Hawks out-hit the Wildcats, 13-11 despite getting the defeat.
Senior righty Nick Pave was charged with the loss in his first career start, throwing 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts. First year Jack Hamilton pitched the final two innings of the contest without allowing a base hit or run with a strikeout and four groundouts and allowed the Mountain Hawks to make the comeback attempt.
Davidson scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning, two were on base hits (a double and single) and one was on a wild pitch that scored the runner from third.
The Wildcats took a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning when Michael Carico singled to right field to score Parker Nolan and added another in the fifth on a home run to right center from Jacob Hinderleider.
The Mountain Hawks picked up two runs in the sixth to cut the deficit back to three runs when Andrew Kohl grounded out to third base, scoring Rother and Riley Davis singled, advanced to second on an error as Butler scored the run to make it 5-2.
Davidson answered back with four runs in the sixth and the Mountain Hawks clawed back with four runs in the seventh to make it a manageable three-run deficit.
Most of what Lehigh tried to do in the top of the ninth occurred with two outs following a lead-off infield single for Rother, who went on to steal second and advance to third on a wild pitch. Kohl walked on a full count and pinch hitting for Davis, Andrew Nole was hit by a pitch to load the bases and send Tyler Young to the plate as the go-ahead run. He ended up flying out to right field on the first pitch to end the ball-game.
Lehigh ends the weekend with a 1-2 record, heading into a very important four-game neutral site series with Mount St. Mary's next weekend in Colonial Heights, Va.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: FECZKO, Ryan (1-0)
L: Pave, Nick (0-1)
S: FLYNN, Bennett (2)
Batting:
2B: Butler, Justin 1
HR: Butler, Justin 1
RBI: Butler, Justin 4 ; Kohl, Andrew 1
SH: Carlson, Chase 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Rother, Casey 2 ; Butler, Justin 2 ; Carlson, Chase 1
SB: Rother, Casey 1
HBP: Kohl, Andrew 1 ; Nole, Andrew 1
PO: Whitlinger, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: CARICO, Michael 1 ; DOUGLAS, Tyler 1 ; NOLAN, Parker 1
HR: HINDERLEIDER, Jacob 1
RBI: CARICO, Michael 2 ; HOSMER, John 1 ; DOUGLAS, Tyler 3 ; HINDERLEIDER, Jacob 2
SF: HOSMER, John 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WILSON, Ryan 2 ; CANDELARIA, Trevor 1 ; CARICO, Michael 2 ; WILHOIT, Jake 1 ; DOUGLAS, Tyler 1 ; HINDERLEIDER, Jacob 1 ; NOLAN, Parker 1
SB: CARICO, Michael 1
HBP: WILSON, Ryan 2
