Saturday, April 9
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Army West Point
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Championship rematch at Walker Field set between Lehigh and Army
4/8/2022 11:56:00 AM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team welcomes back Army West Point to J. David Walker Field this upcoming weekend, as the Mountain Hawks (15-14, 3-5 PL) take on the Black Knights (12-15, 6-2 PL) for three games starting with a noon doubleheader on Saturday and a single game at noon on Sunday. The upcoming Patriot League weekend between the two teams represents a rematch of last season's Patriot League Championship Series in which Army bested the 2021 Regular Season Champion Mountain Hawks in three games at Walker Field.
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Lehigh, a team that has fallen in seven of its last nine games, takes on an Army team that has won seven straight ballgames, nine of its last 11 and is 6-2 in Patriot League contests so far this year. The Mountain Hawks currently sit in fourth in the league standings while the Black Knights are placed first, despite playing four games less than second place Bucknell (8-4).
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The Mountain Hawks are coming off a gritty performance on Tuesday in the consolation semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic, a 15-11 defeat at Saint Joseph's. Lehigh initially trailed 9-1 after the first two innings before coming back to trail 10-8 before the Hawks out-scored the Mountain Hawks, 5-3 in the final three innings. Lehigh's offense totaled seven doubles, the most by the team in a single game since 2018. Sophomore Riley Davis went 3-for-6 with a double and extended his reached base streak to 25 straight games, while senior Chase Carlson also recorded a 3-for-6 afternoon with a double and two RBIs. Junior Adam Retzbach and senior Joe Gorla both homered in the defeat, going back-to-back in the top of the third inning.
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After another multi-hit day and reaching base yet again, Davis continues to pace Lehigh on the offensive end, slashing .354/.440./.525 with 35 base hits, nine doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs. He has walked 13 times with three hit-by-pitches but leads the team in strikeouts (30). Of qualified players, only Davis and Casey Rother (.314) are hitting above .300 this season while Joe Gorla (.500) has been steadily climbing since his return to the lineup last weekend after suffering an injury for the first half of the year. Gorla homered for the second time this season on Tuesday, after homering against Navy Saturday. Rother has a team-high 36 hits with 11 doubles, two home runs and 20 RBIs. He's also slugging .458, walking nine times and reaching base at a .374.
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Retzbach has been mighty impressive as of late, getting a hit in five straight games and slashing .295/.415/.562 in 105 at-bats. After homering on Tuesday, he currently ranks second on the team behind first-year Justin Butler (7) with six home runs and paces the way with 30 RBIs. Retzbach was hitting .225 after the first game of the series at VMI on Mar. 11, but has slashed .338/.443/.662Â in his previous 18 games, with five home runs, 19 RBIs and 10 walks.
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Lehigh is hitting .287 as a team this year through 29 games with 31 home runs, a slugging percentage of .461 and an on-base percentage of .384 with 120 walks and 35 hit by pitches.
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Senior left-hander Luke Rettig (6-1, 1.11 ERA) saw his impressive earned run streak come to an end at 21 consecutive innings against Navy last Saturday, giving up four runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 5.2 innings of work. He still earned the victory, his Patriot League-leading sixth of the season in the Mountain Hawks 10-4 win over the Midshipmen. Junior right-hander Ben Christian (2-2, 4.34) was Lehigh's No. 2 starter on Saturday afternoon and was roughed up in his outing, saddled with the loss after allowing seven runs (four earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. Right-handers Tyler Thompson (0-1, 3.71) and Ryan Deom (0-0, 6.39) limited the damage in relief, surrendering just two runs (both unearned) on eight hits in a combined 6.1 innings. Deom struck out three and walked one over a pair of base hits in three innings to close out the ballgame.
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Junior righty Carlos Torres (1-1, 10.80) opened up Sunday's contest against Bucknell, but only managed to pitch an inning, allowing six runs, four earned on six hits with two strikeouts, charged with the loss. Senior lefty Matt Stamford (2-3, 6.32) shoved in his outing, giving up just two runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts in seven innings of work. He earned his second win of the year, while Rother (0-0, 2.70) recorded the final out to earn his second save of the season.
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Army are winners of seven straight games and at 6-2, have posted the first-place record in the Patriot League through its first eight league games of 2022. The Black Knights have won three consecutive league titles are looking for the four-peat this year.
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The Black Knights are coming off a four-game clean sweep of Holy Cross in West Point over the weekend, taking the first doubleheader Saturday (7-0, 13-7) and the second doubleheader on Sunday (13-0, 8-3). Army knocked off Siena on the road, 8-3 in mid-week action Wednesday.
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Last season's Patriot League Tournament MVP Ross Friedrick earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors on Tuesday after batting .600 against the Crusaders with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs. He also tallied 40 putouts with two fielding assists as first base.
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Friedrick (.324) is one of five Black Knights hitting above .300 this season with Sam Ruta (.368), Nick Manesis (.320), Derek Berg (.318) and Kevin Dubrule (.300). Ruta and Manesis are tied for the team lead in home runs with four each, while the latter has a team-best 22 RBIs so far this year. Cam Cerruto is hitting .296 in 20 games played.
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On the mound, Brian Dawson (2-0, 1.64) leads the way overall in ERA, striking out 13 with five walks in 22 innings of work, making two starts in seven appearances. Connelly Early (2-3, 3.34) and Patrick Melampy (2-1, 3.45) are serving as Army's pair of aces this year with Early striking out 29 and walking 17 while Melampy has struck out 27 with 11 walks. Tanner Gresham (0-1, 4.60) has a team high two saves so far this year.
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Lehigh continues to maintain the league-lead in hitting (.287) while Army is ranked third (.276). On the mound, the Black Knights have recorded a league-best 4.51 team ERA while the Mountain Hawks sit second (5.48). Both teams are sporting nearly identical fielding marks with Lehigh slotted third (.969) and Army in fourth (.967) as a program.
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Army leads the all-time series, 90-53 with the Black Knights claiming eight of the last 12 matchups dating back to the start of the 2019 season. Both teams split the regular season series a year ago.
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All three games this upcoming season will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Matt Markus on the play-by-play call. Saturday is Poster Day at Walker Field from 12-2 p.m. where fans will receive a Lehigh Baseball team poster for the 2022 campaign.
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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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Lehigh, a team that has fallen in seven of its last nine games, takes on an Army team that has won seven straight ballgames, nine of its last 11 and is 6-2 in Patriot League contests so far this year. The Mountain Hawks currently sit in fourth in the league standings while the Black Knights are placed first, despite playing four games less than second place Bucknell (8-4).
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The Mountain Hawks are coming off a gritty performance on Tuesday in the consolation semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic, a 15-11 defeat at Saint Joseph's. Lehigh initially trailed 9-1 after the first two innings before coming back to trail 10-8 before the Hawks out-scored the Mountain Hawks, 5-3 in the final three innings. Lehigh's offense totaled seven doubles, the most by the team in a single game since 2018. Sophomore Riley Davis went 3-for-6 with a double and extended his reached base streak to 25 straight games, while senior Chase Carlson also recorded a 3-for-6 afternoon with a double and two RBIs. Junior Adam Retzbach and senior Joe Gorla both homered in the defeat, going back-to-back in the top of the third inning.
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After another multi-hit day and reaching base yet again, Davis continues to pace Lehigh on the offensive end, slashing .354/.440./.525 with 35 base hits, nine doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs. He has walked 13 times with three hit-by-pitches but leads the team in strikeouts (30). Of qualified players, only Davis and Casey Rother (.314) are hitting above .300 this season while Joe Gorla (.500) has been steadily climbing since his return to the lineup last weekend after suffering an injury for the first half of the year. Gorla homered for the second time this season on Tuesday, after homering against Navy Saturday. Rother has a team-high 36 hits with 11 doubles, two home runs and 20 RBIs. He's also slugging .458, walking nine times and reaching base at a .374.
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Retzbach has been mighty impressive as of late, getting a hit in five straight games and slashing .295/.415/.562 in 105 at-bats. After homering on Tuesday, he currently ranks second on the team behind first-year Justin Butler (7) with six home runs and paces the way with 30 RBIs. Retzbach was hitting .225 after the first game of the series at VMI on Mar. 11, but has slashed .338/.443/.662Â in his previous 18 games, with five home runs, 19 RBIs and 10 walks.
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Lehigh is hitting .287 as a team this year through 29 games with 31 home runs, a slugging percentage of .461 and an on-base percentage of .384 with 120 walks and 35 hit by pitches.
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Senior left-hander Luke Rettig (6-1, 1.11 ERA) saw his impressive earned run streak come to an end at 21 consecutive innings against Navy last Saturday, giving up four runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 5.2 innings of work. He still earned the victory, his Patriot League-leading sixth of the season in the Mountain Hawks 10-4 win over the Midshipmen. Junior right-hander Ben Christian (2-2, 4.34) was Lehigh's No. 2 starter on Saturday afternoon and was roughed up in his outing, saddled with the loss after allowing seven runs (four earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. Right-handers Tyler Thompson (0-1, 3.71) and Ryan Deom (0-0, 6.39) limited the damage in relief, surrendering just two runs (both unearned) on eight hits in a combined 6.1 innings. Deom struck out three and walked one over a pair of base hits in three innings to close out the ballgame.
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Junior righty Carlos Torres (1-1, 10.80) opened up Sunday's contest against Bucknell, but only managed to pitch an inning, allowing six runs, four earned on six hits with two strikeouts, charged with the loss. Senior lefty Matt Stamford (2-3, 6.32) shoved in his outing, giving up just two runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts in seven innings of work. He earned his second win of the year, while Rother (0-0, 2.70) recorded the final out to earn his second save of the season.
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Army are winners of seven straight games and at 6-2, have posted the first-place record in the Patriot League through its first eight league games of 2022. The Black Knights have won three consecutive league titles are looking for the four-peat this year.
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The Black Knights are coming off a four-game clean sweep of Holy Cross in West Point over the weekend, taking the first doubleheader Saturday (7-0, 13-7) and the second doubleheader on Sunday (13-0, 8-3). Army knocked off Siena on the road, 8-3 in mid-week action Wednesday.
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Last season's Patriot League Tournament MVP Ross Friedrick earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors on Tuesday after batting .600 against the Crusaders with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs. He also tallied 40 putouts with two fielding assists as first base.
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Friedrick (.324) is one of five Black Knights hitting above .300 this season with Sam Ruta (.368), Nick Manesis (.320), Derek Berg (.318) and Kevin Dubrule (.300). Ruta and Manesis are tied for the team lead in home runs with four each, while the latter has a team-best 22 RBIs so far this year. Cam Cerruto is hitting .296 in 20 games played.
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On the mound, Brian Dawson (2-0, 1.64) leads the way overall in ERA, striking out 13 with five walks in 22 innings of work, making two starts in seven appearances. Connelly Early (2-3, 3.34) and Patrick Melampy (2-1, 3.45) are serving as Army's pair of aces this year with Early striking out 29 and walking 17 while Melampy has struck out 27 with 11 walks. Tanner Gresham (0-1, 4.60) has a team high two saves so far this year.
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Lehigh continues to maintain the league-lead in hitting (.287) while Army is ranked third (.276). On the mound, the Black Knights have recorded a league-best 4.51 team ERA while the Mountain Hawks sit second (5.48). Both teams are sporting nearly identical fielding marks with Lehigh slotted third (.969) and Army in fourth (.967) as a program.
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Army leads the all-time series, 90-53 with the Black Knights claiming eight of the last 12 matchups dating back to the start of the 2019 season. Both teams split the regular season series a year ago.
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All three games this upcoming season will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Matt Markus on the play-by-play call. Saturday is Poster Day at Walker Field from 12-2 p.m. where fans will receive a Lehigh Baseball team poster for the 2022 campaign.
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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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Players Mentioned
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