Tuesday, March 15
Teaneck, N.J.
2 p.m.
Lehigh University
7-6
15
at
7
Fairleigh Dickinson
3-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
1
0
0
5
3
0
4
2
15
14
2
Fairleigh Dickinson
4
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
7
8
0
Photo by: Lisa Stamford
Lehigh battles back to dismantle FDU, 15-7 Tuesday
3/15/2022 7:16:00 PM | Baseball
TEANECK, N.J. – Battling back from a 6-1 deficit after two innings, the Lehigh baseball team scored eight unanswered between the fifth and sixth innings, pulling away for a 15-7 win over Fairleigh Dickinson Tuesday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex. The win is Lehigh's third in its last four games, scoring 15 runs in a game for the second time this year.
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Senior righty Nick Pave (1-1) tossed three shutout innings of relief to earn his first win of the season while first year Val Taddei and junior Ryan Deom threw the final four innings of the game with one earned run allowed and scattering two hits.
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The offense came alive again after two impressive games at VMI on Friday, with both Casey Rother (3-for-5) and Tyler Young (3-for-4) tallying a trio of knocks, while Adam Retzbach and Gerard Sweeney each finished with four RBIs. Sweeney, who was playing his first game of 2022 after being sidelined due to injury to begin the season, went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs for the Mountain Hawks. Retzbach also homered, his team-high tying third of the season, a grand slam that tied the game at 6-6 in the top of the fifth inning.
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"I was really happy with the way we battled especially in the later innings and had such great energy the whole day," said head coach Sean Leary. "Our offense was pretty special today and even being down early, our offense swung the bats well from the beginning. Not everything was finding holes, but we just settled down and had a great approach all day."
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FDU scored its first four runs of the contest in the first inning, all off junior right-hander Carlos Torres who made his third start of the season for Lehigh. Two doubles and a single did the damage for the Knights, who forced Torres out after just 28 pitches.
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In the top of the second, Lehigh got its first run of the game courtesy of an Andrew Nole sacrifice fly to score Retzbach, who was hit by a pitch his first time up. In the bottom of the inning against junior right-hander Will Grisack, FDU scored two more run after two runs scored on an error committed by Riley Davis.
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Fast-forwarding to the top of the fifth inning, a pair of one-out singles from Davis and Young put runners on first and second, which allowed first-year Jake Whitlinger to load the bases after getting hit by a pitch. Sweeney drove in Davis by way of a SAC-fly, while Rother loaded the bases again after walking. Retzbach's grand slam drove in all three runs to tie the game at 6-6.
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The Mountain Hawks continued the onslaught with three more runs in the top of the sixth inning, starting with an RBI double to right field from Whitlinger and capped off by a two-run shot from Sweeney over the left field fence to take a 9-6 lead. The home run, which was the first of the season for Sweeney, was also the 11th of his career after homering a team-best seven times in 2021.
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"I think the most important thing about today is that we battled with two strikes and with two outs and came up with some really big hits," Leary said. "Obviously Retz's hit was enormous, but two innings later we got a two-out double from Whitlinger and a home run from Sweeney and we just seemed to keep the pressure on no matter what was going on and that just a tribute to the offense. Everyone had competitive at-bats and with two strikes and two outs we just seemed to keep fighting until the end."
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FDU got a run back in the seventh inning after an RBI single to left field, cutting the Lehigh lead to 9-7, but four more runs scored in the eighth inning via a two-run single from Rafe Perich and a two-run single off the bat of Andrew Kohl to take a commanding 13-7 lead.
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Lehigh got a couple more insurance runs in the top half of the ninth thanks to a run for Riley Davis after Sweeney grounded out to shortstop and an RBI single from Rother to right field, which was good enough for the 15-7 victory.
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The Mountain Hawks got at least one hit from eight of 10 players in the lineup on Tuesday and walked eight times as a team, striking out just six times.
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Dave Bordieri led the FDU offense with his 2-for-5 day with a double and three RBIs.
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J. David Walker Field is the location of Lehigh's first home game of the 2022 campaign, set to take place Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Saint Peter's. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
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"[Saint Peter's] are super improved since last year, winning a series earlier in the year and coming off a weekend against a Top-40 team [Mercer], which was not indicative of who they are," said Leary. "We're just excited to get back home, especially after thinking we were home and having to go on the road today. I know our guys are pumped up to play on their home field for the first time this 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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Senior righty Nick Pave (1-1) tossed three shutout innings of relief to earn his first win of the season while first year Val Taddei and junior Ryan Deom threw the final four innings of the game with one earned run allowed and scattering two hits.
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The offense came alive again after two impressive games at VMI on Friday, with both Casey Rother (3-for-5) and Tyler Young (3-for-4) tallying a trio of knocks, while Adam Retzbach and Gerard Sweeney each finished with four RBIs. Sweeney, who was playing his first game of 2022 after being sidelined due to injury to begin the season, went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs for the Mountain Hawks. Retzbach also homered, his team-high tying third of the season, a grand slam that tied the game at 6-6 in the top of the fifth inning.
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"I was really happy with the way we battled especially in the later innings and had such great energy the whole day," said head coach Sean Leary. "Our offense was pretty special today and even being down early, our offense swung the bats well from the beginning. Not everything was finding holes, but we just settled down and had a great approach all day."
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FDU scored its first four runs of the contest in the first inning, all off junior right-hander Carlos Torres who made his third start of the season for Lehigh. Two doubles and a single did the damage for the Knights, who forced Torres out after just 28 pitches.
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In the top of the second, Lehigh got its first run of the game courtesy of an Andrew Nole sacrifice fly to score Retzbach, who was hit by a pitch his first time up. In the bottom of the inning against junior right-hander Will Grisack, FDU scored two more run after two runs scored on an error committed by Riley Davis.
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Fast-forwarding to the top of the fifth inning, a pair of one-out singles from Davis and Young put runners on first and second, which allowed first-year Jake Whitlinger to load the bases after getting hit by a pitch. Sweeney drove in Davis by way of a SAC-fly, while Rother loaded the bases again after walking. Retzbach's grand slam drove in all three runs to tie the game at 6-6.
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The Mountain Hawks continued the onslaught with three more runs in the top of the sixth inning, starting with an RBI double to right field from Whitlinger and capped off by a two-run shot from Sweeney over the left field fence to take a 9-6 lead. The home run, which was the first of the season for Sweeney, was also the 11th of his career after homering a team-best seven times in 2021.
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"I think the most important thing about today is that we battled with two strikes and with two outs and came up with some really big hits," Leary said. "Obviously Retz's hit was enormous, but two innings later we got a two-out double from Whitlinger and a home run from Sweeney and we just seemed to keep the pressure on no matter what was going on and that just a tribute to the offense. Everyone had competitive at-bats and with two strikes and two outs we just seemed to keep fighting until the end."
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FDU got a run back in the seventh inning after an RBI single to left field, cutting the Lehigh lead to 9-7, but four more runs scored in the eighth inning via a two-run single from Rafe Perich and a two-run single off the bat of Andrew Kohl to take a commanding 13-7 lead.
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Lehigh got a couple more insurance runs in the top half of the ninth thanks to a run for Riley Davis after Sweeney grounded out to shortstop and an RBI single from Rother to right field, which was good enough for the 15-7 victory.
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The Mountain Hawks got at least one hit from eight of 10 players in the lineup on Tuesday and walked eight times as a team, striking out just six times.
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Dave Bordieri led the FDU offense with his 2-for-5 day with a double and three RBIs.
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J. David Walker Field is the location of Lehigh's first home game of the 2022 campaign, set to take place Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Saint Peter's. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
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"[Saint Peter's] are super improved since last year, winning a series earlier in the year and coming off a weekend against a Top-40 team [Mercer], which was not indicative of who they are," said Leary. "We're just excited to get back home, especially after thinking we were home and having to go on the road today. I know our guys are pumped up to play on their home field for the first time this 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: Pave, Nick (1-1)
L: J. Millevill (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Kohl, Andrew 1 ; Davis, Riley 1 ; Young, Tyler 1
HR: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1
RBI: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Sweeney, Gerard 4 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 4 ; Perich, Rafe 2 ; Kohl, Andrew 2 ; Nole, Andrew 1
SF: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Butler, Justin 1 ; Nole, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitlinger, Jake 2 ; Sweeney, Gerard 2 ; Rother, Casey 2 ; Retzbach, Adam 3 ; Perich, Rafe 1 ; Davis, Riley 2 ; Young, Tyler 3
HBP: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Retzbach, Adam 1
Batting:
2B: D. Bordieri 1 ; T. Verga 1
RBI: H. D'Amato 2 ; D. Bordieri 3 ; T. Verga 1
Base Running:
RUNS: T. Werner 2 ; J. Sosa 1 ; J. Sierra 1 ; H. D'Amato 1 ; D. Bordieri 1 ; G. Rosales 1
SB: J. Sierra 1 ; T. Ruscitti 1
HBP: J. Sosa 1 ; T. Verga 1 ; G. Rosales 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
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