Saturday, March 25
Annapolis, Md.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
at
Navy
Photo by: Maria Bouchard
Mountain Hawks Open Patriot League Play with Trips to Navy and Bucknell
3/24/2023 12:00:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball squad is set to hit the road for a pair of Patriot League doubleheaders this weekend, taking on Navy on Saturday before traveling to Bucknell for a twin bill on Sunday to kick off league play.
The Mountain Hawks were selected to finish third in the Patriot League Baseball Preseason Poll with four members of the Brown and White named to the All-Patriot League Team. Fifth-year left-handed pitcher Luke Rettig was selected as the Patriot League Preseason Pitcher of the Year and fifth-year outfielder Casey Rother was named Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. Junior infielder Riley Davis and sophomore catcher Justin Butler were all named to the All-Patriot League Team alongside Rettig and Rother.Lehigh finished last season a 12-13 record in league play that earned them the three seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks then saw their season end in Lewisburg where the were eliminated by Bucknell in the semifinals.
The Mountain Hawks (11-9) are coming off a midweek matchup against Penn where they suffered a 7-4 loss to the Quakers in extra innings at home. Sophomore left-hander Najir Glenn started the game and Lehigh had a committee of seven pitchers throw in the game. Fifth-year Casey Rother and sophomore Rafe Perich both recorded three-hit performances, with Rother going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk while Perich scored a run. Gorla went 2-for-5 with an RBI while Cochran also had two hits with a run scored. Kohl had a double and scored a run.
Sophomore Andrew Kohl is hitting .351 to lead the Mountain Hawks while also having a team-high seven home runs and junior Tyler Young has a batting average of .339 eight RBI and two doubles on the year. Rother has driven in a team-high 28 RBIs and seven doubles and has hit six home runs. Rother has hit 23 career homers, which has him second all-time in program history and is also third all-time with 132 career RBIs. Perich and Gorla are also hitting over .300 on the year with Perich collecting 21 RBIs and leads the squad with 28 hits while Gorla has produced four doubles and four home runs for 12 RBIs.
Fifth-year left-handed Luke Rettig, this week's Patriot League Pitcher of the Week, leads the Mountain Hawks on the mound, with a 4-0 record in five starts and struck out a team-leading 27 batters in 22.1 innings. Rettig has moved into third all-time in career strikeouts with 234 and is just six away from taking over second all-time. Sophomore right-hander Alex Bouchard has made five appearances with four starts for a 2-1 record in 16.2 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts while the right-handed junior Teddy Tolliver has also made five appearances and four starts and thrown 14 innings with a 1-0 record and 15 strikeouts. In relief, first-year Shane O'Neill and senior Will Grisack have each made nine appearances and tossed 14.2 innings of work with 1-0 records and 12 strikeouts each.
Navy (9-11, 2-2 PL) did not play its midweek game against Frostburg State but the Midshipmen opened their league schedule last weekend when they hosted Bucknell for a four-game series. Navy claimed the single game on Friday by a score of 8-6 and the first game of the Saturday doubleheader 7-6 before dropping the second game 17-4 and the Sunday game 6-3 to split the weekend series.
Three Midshipmen have a batting average of .300 or higher, led by Hudson Lehnertz, who is hitting .375 on the year with 12 runs scored and five RBIs. Brock Murtha has produced 11 RBIs on 21 hits with three doubles and a home run with a .328 batting average while Logan Keller is hitting at a clip of .312 while leading the squad with 24 hits, six doubles and 15 RBIs to go with 12 runs scored, a triple and one homer.
Navy's freshman pitcher Jackson Beattie was named the Patriot League Rookie of the week after giving the Midshipmen a career-high four innings out of the bullpen and holding Bucknell to one unearned run on three hits while walking two and striking out two batters. It marked his fifth appearance this season without an earned run allowed and also marked his third outing of two-or-more innings this year.
The Midshipmen have two pitchers that have tossed 20 or more innings, with Nate Mitchell tossing 26.1 innings of work with 22 strikeouts, a complete game and a 3-1 record in five starts. Thomas Russell is 2-2 in four starts and has made five appearances for 20 innings pitched with a team-high 23 strikeouts.
Navy leads the overall series 92-52, including Navy winning the season series, 3-2, a year ago. The Mountain Hawks split the doubleheader at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park before Navy claimed two of the three games at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
The doubleheader will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at the links below.
Game 1 vs. Navy: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Navy: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Bucknell (8-11, 2-2 PL) earned a 4-3 win over Villanova on Tuesday to put the Bison on a three-game winning streak heading into the weekend where the Bison will take on Lafayette on Saturday before hosting the Mountain Hawks on Sunday. Villanova took a 2-0 first-inning lead before Drew Uccello drove in a run to cut the lead in half. The Wildcats added one more run to go back in front by two runs, 3-1 in the sixth, but the Bison tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth frame after a Sean Keys solo homer and a sacrifice fly. Jacob Corson scored what would be the game-winning run in the seventh inning which lifted Bucknell over Villanova for the 4-3 victory.
The Bison split the four-game series with Navy last weekend, which landed Anthony Sherwin the Patriot League Player of the Week after going 8-for-15 (.533) at the plate with four doubles, eight RBIs, and six runs scored. He missed nine games earlier in the year with an injury, but since returning he has hit safely in eight of his nine appearances while posting a .488 on-base percentage. His six doubles are tied for the team lead, despite only playing in half of the team's games.
The only other Bison to have a batting average over .300 is Kyle Lyons, who is hitting .323 so far with 21 hits, a couple of doubles, seven RBIs and 11 runs scored. Keys and Corson are both hitting .270 with Keys leading the squad with 18 RBIs and four home runs while Corson has three homers, three doubles with 15 runs score and 15 RBIs.
Four pitchers have thrown at least 20 or more innings and have recorded a win so far. Tyler O'Neill has tossed 27.1 innings with 19 strikeouts for a 2-2 record in five starts while Chris DiFiore leads the squad with 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched for a 1-3 record in five starts. Also making five starts is Will Greer, throwing 22.1 innings of work with 10 strikeouts for a 1-3 record while Ben Magovern has hurled 20.2 innings with 15 Ks, making three starts and five appearances.
The Bison own the overall series 110-98, but the Mountain Hawks did claim the regular season series win a year ago, splitting the doubleheader at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park and took two of three games at Depew Field. This will be the first meeting since Bucknell bounced Lehigh out of the Patriot League Tournament in the semifinals, where the Bison defeated the Mountain Hawks 10-8 in game one and 7-4 in game two to advance the Championship series against Army West Point.
Live stats will be available for both games at this link: Bucknell Live Stats
Lehigh will return to action on Tuesday, March 28 when the Mountain Hawks host Villanova in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic. The game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
The Mountain Hawks were selected to finish third in the Patriot League Baseball Preseason Poll with four members of the Brown and White named to the All-Patriot League Team. Fifth-year left-handed pitcher Luke Rettig was selected as the Patriot League Preseason Pitcher of the Year and fifth-year outfielder Casey Rother was named Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. Junior infielder Riley Davis and sophomore catcher Justin Butler were all named to the All-Patriot League Team alongside Rettig and Rother.Lehigh finished last season a 12-13 record in league play that earned them the three seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks then saw their season end in Lewisburg where the were eliminated by Bucknell in the semifinals.
The Mountain Hawks (11-9) are coming off a midweek matchup against Penn where they suffered a 7-4 loss to the Quakers in extra innings at home. Sophomore left-hander Najir Glenn started the game and Lehigh had a committee of seven pitchers throw in the game. Fifth-year Casey Rother and sophomore Rafe Perich both recorded three-hit performances, with Rother going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk while Perich scored a run. Gorla went 2-for-5 with an RBI while Cochran also had two hits with a run scored. Kohl had a double and scored a run.
Sophomore Andrew Kohl is hitting .351 to lead the Mountain Hawks while also having a team-high seven home runs and junior Tyler Young has a batting average of .339 eight RBI and two doubles on the year. Rother has driven in a team-high 28 RBIs and seven doubles and has hit six home runs. Rother has hit 23 career homers, which has him second all-time in program history and is also third all-time with 132 career RBIs. Perich and Gorla are also hitting over .300 on the year with Perich collecting 21 RBIs and leads the squad with 28 hits while Gorla has produced four doubles and four home runs for 12 RBIs.
Fifth-year left-handed Luke Rettig, this week's Patriot League Pitcher of the Week, leads the Mountain Hawks on the mound, with a 4-0 record in five starts and struck out a team-leading 27 batters in 22.1 innings. Rettig has moved into third all-time in career strikeouts with 234 and is just six away from taking over second all-time. Sophomore right-hander Alex Bouchard has made five appearances with four starts for a 2-1 record in 16.2 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts while the right-handed junior Teddy Tolliver has also made five appearances and four starts and thrown 14 innings with a 1-0 record and 15 strikeouts. In relief, first-year Shane O'Neill and senior Will Grisack have each made nine appearances and tossed 14.2 innings of work with 1-0 records and 12 strikeouts each.
Navy (9-11, 2-2 PL) did not play its midweek game against Frostburg State but the Midshipmen opened their league schedule last weekend when they hosted Bucknell for a four-game series. Navy claimed the single game on Friday by a score of 8-6 and the first game of the Saturday doubleheader 7-6 before dropping the second game 17-4 and the Sunday game 6-3 to split the weekend series.
Three Midshipmen have a batting average of .300 or higher, led by Hudson Lehnertz, who is hitting .375 on the year with 12 runs scored and five RBIs. Brock Murtha has produced 11 RBIs on 21 hits with three doubles and a home run with a .328 batting average while Logan Keller is hitting at a clip of .312 while leading the squad with 24 hits, six doubles and 15 RBIs to go with 12 runs scored, a triple and one homer.
Navy's freshman pitcher Jackson Beattie was named the Patriot League Rookie of the week after giving the Midshipmen a career-high four innings out of the bullpen and holding Bucknell to one unearned run on three hits while walking two and striking out two batters. It marked his fifth appearance this season without an earned run allowed and also marked his third outing of two-or-more innings this year.
The Midshipmen have two pitchers that have tossed 20 or more innings, with Nate Mitchell tossing 26.1 innings of work with 22 strikeouts, a complete game and a 3-1 record in five starts. Thomas Russell is 2-2 in four starts and has made five appearances for 20 innings pitched with a team-high 23 strikeouts.
Navy leads the overall series 92-52, including Navy winning the season series, 3-2, a year ago. The Mountain Hawks split the doubleheader at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park before Navy claimed two of the three games at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
The doubleheader will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at the links below.
Game 1 vs. Navy: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Navy: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Bucknell (8-11, 2-2 PL) earned a 4-3 win over Villanova on Tuesday to put the Bison on a three-game winning streak heading into the weekend where the Bison will take on Lafayette on Saturday before hosting the Mountain Hawks on Sunday. Villanova took a 2-0 first-inning lead before Drew Uccello drove in a run to cut the lead in half. The Wildcats added one more run to go back in front by two runs, 3-1 in the sixth, but the Bison tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth frame after a Sean Keys solo homer and a sacrifice fly. Jacob Corson scored what would be the game-winning run in the seventh inning which lifted Bucknell over Villanova for the 4-3 victory.
The Bison split the four-game series with Navy last weekend, which landed Anthony Sherwin the Patriot League Player of the Week after going 8-for-15 (.533) at the plate with four doubles, eight RBIs, and six runs scored. He missed nine games earlier in the year with an injury, but since returning he has hit safely in eight of his nine appearances while posting a .488 on-base percentage. His six doubles are tied for the team lead, despite only playing in half of the team's games.
The only other Bison to have a batting average over .300 is Kyle Lyons, who is hitting .323 so far with 21 hits, a couple of doubles, seven RBIs and 11 runs scored. Keys and Corson are both hitting .270 with Keys leading the squad with 18 RBIs and four home runs while Corson has three homers, three doubles with 15 runs score and 15 RBIs.
Four pitchers have thrown at least 20 or more innings and have recorded a win so far. Tyler O'Neill has tossed 27.1 innings with 19 strikeouts for a 2-2 record in five starts while Chris DiFiore leads the squad with 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched for a 1-3 record in five starts. Also making five starts is Will Greer, throwing 22.1 innings of work with 10 strikeouts for a 1-3 record while Ben Magovern has hurled 20.2 innings with 15 Ks, making three starts and five appearances.
The Bison own the overall series 110-98, but the Mountain Hawks did claim the regular season series win a year ago, splitting the doubleheader at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park and took two of three games at Depew Field. This will be the first meeting since Bucknell bounced Lehigh out of the Patriot League Tournament in the semifinals, where the Bison defeated the Mountain Hawks 10-8 in game one and 7-4 in game two to advance the Championship series against Army West Point.
Live stats will be available for both games at this link: Bucknell Live Stats
Lehigh will return to action on Tuesday, March 28 when the Mountain Hawks host Villanova in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic. The game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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