Saturday, April 9
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
15-15, 3-6
1
vs
3
Army West Point
13-15, 7-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Army West Point
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
3
5
1
Lehigh
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
2
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Pitching and defense allow Mountain Hawks to go for series over Army Sunday
4/9/2022 7:28:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team came out of Saturday's doubleheader vs. Army West Point with a split, getting the Game 2 victory, 3-2 after falling 3-1 in the opener at J. David Walker Field. The win in the second game snapped Army's win streak at eight straight games as the Mountain Hawks (16-15, 4-6 PL) improved to an above .500 overall record.
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Four players (Andrew Nole, Casey Rother, Joe Gorla and Gerard Sweeney) registered a pair of knocks between both games on Saturday, while Rother and Sweeney both picked up extra base hits with doubles. Both Luke Rettig and Matt Stamford were on top of their game all day long, holding the three-time defending Patriot League Champions to just five runs over two games.
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"I thought starting pitching for both games was fantastic," said head coach Sean Leary. "When you go a whole day against a first-place team and give up five runs, I'm just so proud of both Luke and Matt today.
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"We just didn't get the clutch hitting for Luke in Game 1. He kept us in that ballgame. But when we needed some big games over the last two years, Matt Stamford continues to step forward. Last weekend (against Bucknell) we needed him in Game 4, and he stepped up again today when we need a veteran in that spot."
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Lehigh struck first in the bottom of the second of Game 1 after Chase Carlson flew out to left field, bringing in Gorla on the sacrifice-fly to take a 1-0 lead.
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The Black Knights scored two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double down the right field line and a bases loaded walk, pulling ahead 2-1. Army tacked on a third run in the top of the seventh inning after Sam Ruta singled to right field.
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Tyler Young drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, but Tanner Gresham retired the side in order after that to get the 3-1 win and extend the Black Knights' win streak to eight straight games.
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Senior left-hander Luke Rettig (6-2) was charged with just his second loss of the season after allowing two runs, one earned on three hits with four strikeouts and four walks over 5.1 innings of work in the start. Sophomore right-hander Tyler Thompson pitched 1.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits with a strikeout.
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Army started Game 2 off on the right foot with an RBI single to second base in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
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Lehigh got two to score in the second on Andrew Nole's single through the right side and Sam Holtz's sacrifice fly to a take a 2-1 lead.
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The Black Knights tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Braden Golinski.
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Rother produced the game-winning run with an RBI double to right center field, bringing home Carlson to score and take a 3-2 lead.
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After senior left-hander Matt Stamford (3-3) set the tone with his seven-inning performance, giving up just two runs, one earned on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks, Nick Pave shoved the final two frames to pick up his team-high third save of the season. He threw the final two shutout frames, striking out a couple.
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The game ended when Retzbach scooped up Pave's ball in the dirt and threw out Derek Berg trying to steal second base to conclude the ballgame. It was Retzbach's 12th batter thrown out this season.
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"Retz had a rough day at the plate today and sometimes it's tough to say he's going to go back there and make every play and at the most critical moment on a fast runner, he makes a perfect throw," Leary said. "You can't teach that, it's just talent. In the biggest moment of the game, he came up with one of the best defensive moments of the year."
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Rother and Nole both went 2-for-4 from the plate in the win while Sweeney, Gorla and Carlson each registered knocks.
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Lehigh will look for its first series victory over Army since 2016 with a single game set for noon on Sunday at Walker Field. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Matt Markus on the play-by-play call.
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Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
ÂGallery: (4-9-2022) Baseball vs. Army, 4/9/22
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Four players (Andrew Nole, Casey Rother, Joe Gorla and Gerard Sweeney) registered a pair of knocks between both games on Saturday, while Rother and Sweeney both picked up extra base hits with doubles. Both Luke Rettig and Matt Stamford were on top of their game all day long, holding the three-time defending Patriot League Champions to just five runs over two games.
Â
"I thought starting pitching for both games was fantastic," said head coach Sean Leary. "When you go a whole day against a first-place team and give up five runs, I'm just so proud of both Luke and Matt today.
Â
"We just didn't get the clutch hitting for Luke in Game 1. He kept us in that ballgame. But when we needed some big games over the last two years, Matt Stamford continues to step forward. Last weekend (against Bucknell) we needed him in Game 4, and he stepped up again today when we need a veteran in that spot."
Â
Lehigh struck first in the bottom of the second of Game 1 after Chase Carlson flew out to left field, bringing in Gorla on the sacrifice-fly to take a 1-0 lead.
Â
The Black Knights scored two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double down the right field line and a bases loaded walk, pulling ahead 2-1. Army tacked on a third run in the top of the seventh inning after Sam Ruta singled to right field.
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Tyler Young drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, but Tanner Gresham retired the side in order after that to get the 3-1 win and extend the Black Knights' win streak to eight straight games.
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Senior left-hander Luke Rettig (6-2) was charged with just his second loss of the season after allowing two runs, one earned on three hits with four strikeouts and four walks over 5.1 innings of work in the start. Sophomore right-hander Tyler Thompson pitched 1.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits with a strikeout.
Sweeney, Gorla and Young recorded all three of the Mountain Hawks' hits in the ballgame, while Rother, Young and Carlson each drew walks.Saturday doubleheader highlights 📽#GoLehigh | #RTTR pic.twitter.com/t3bdazULLK
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) April 9, 2022
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Army started Game 2 off on the right foot with an RBI single to second base in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
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Lehigh got two to score in the second on Andrew Nole's single through the right side and Sam Holtz's sacrifice fly to a take a 2-1 lead.
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The Black Knights tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Braden Golinski.
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Rother produced the game-winning run with an RBI double to right center field, bringing home Carlson to score and take a 3-2 lead.
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After senior left-hander Matt Stamford (3-3) set the tone with his seven-inning performance, giving up just two runs, one earned on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks, Nick Pave shoved the final two frames to pick up his team-high third save of the season. He threw the final two shutout frames, striking out a couple.
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The game ended when Retzbach scooped up Pave's ball in the dirt and threw out Derek Berg trying to steal second base to conclude the ballgame. It was Retzbach's 12th batter thrown out this season.
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"Retz had a rough day at the plate today and sometimes it's tough to say he's going to go back there and make every play and at the most critical moment on a fast runner, he makes a perfect throw," Leary said. "You can't teach that, it's just talent. In the biggest moment of the game, he came up with one of the best defensive moments of the year."
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Rother and Nole both went 2-for-4 from the plate in the win while Sweeney, Gorla and Carlson each registered knocks.
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Lehigh will look for its first series victory over Army since 2016 with a single game set for noon on Sunday at Walker Field. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Matt Markus on the play-by-play call.
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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: EARLY, Connelly (3-3)
L: Rettig, Luke (6-2)
S: GRESHAM, Tanner (3)
Batting:
2B: BERG, Derek 1 ; GOLINSKI, Braden 1
RBI: MACIAS, Carter 1 ; RUTA, Sam 1 ; GOLINSKI, Braden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MACIAS, Carter 1 ; FRIEDRICK, Ross 1 ; CERRUTO, Cam 1
Batting:
2B: Sweeney, Gerard 1
RBI: Carlson, Chase 1
SF: Carlson, Chase 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gorla, Joe 1
SB: Retzbach, Adam 1
HBP: Holtz, Sam 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/IF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF/RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball1B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballIF
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