Lehigh University
11-15, 0-5
Lafayette College
6-20, 2-3
Lafayette Takes Down Lehigh in Game One of The Rivalry presented by LVOI
3/31/2023 7:15:00 PM | Baseball
The Leopards and Mountain Hawks played a scoreless first inning before Lehigh strung together a five-run second inning. Sophomore Rafe Perich got things started with a solo home run to right field and classmate Justin Butler followed with a solo home run to left-center field to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead.
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PERICH 💣!!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 31, 2023
Rafe Perich gives Lehigh a 1-0 lead on a solo shot to right field!!
Watch on @PatriotLeagueTV and @ESPN (https://t.co/w2lAStyojz)#GoLehigh | #RTTR pic.twitter.com/HRjinvT10o
BUTLER BLAST!! It's 2-0 MOUNTAIN HAWKS!!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 31, 2023
Butler sends one out of the park for a 2-0 lead in the 2nd! Watch on @PatriotLeagueTV and @ESPN (https://t.co/w2lAStyojz)#GoLehigh | #RTTR pic.twitter.com/4sYOHlRhZX
First-year Dom Patrizi singled into left-center to score sophomore Andrew Kohl and sophomore Jake Whitlinger hit a two-RBI double to left-center field to give Lehigh a 5-0 advantage after the second inning.
After another scoreless third frame, Lafayette scored four runs in the fourth including an RBI triple from Seif Ingram and then a two-run home runs by Ethan Swidler to bring the Leopards within a run, 5-4 after four innings.
We played three scoreless innings before the next runs were scored, which was highlighted by pitching from first-year Shane O'Neill and senior Will Grisack recording strikeouts to keep the score at 5-4.
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SHAQ O'NEILL STRIKES OUT THE SIDE!!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 31, 2023
Leopards go down in order as we head to the bottom of the 6th.
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Grisack gets out of a jam!
— Lehigh Baseball (@LehighBaseball) March 31, 2023
Lafayette leaves the bases loaded as Will Grisack gets a strikeout to get out of the inning.
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Lafayette took its first lead of the game with a couple of runs in the top of the eighth. Pete Ciuffreda homered to left field and Blaze Fadio recorded an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field to take a 6-5 lead. The Leopards added two runs of insurance when Michael Zarrillo hit a two-RBI double into centerfield to extend Lafayette's advantage to 8-5.
Lehigh did get one run across the plate in the bottom half of the ninth when junior Tyler Young grounded out to third base to score Patrizi. The Mountain Hawks had two runners on with two outs but Lafayette recorded the final out to claim game one of the four-game series, 8-6.
Whitlinger produced three of Lehigh's hits, going 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and a double while Patrizi recorded two hits, scored two runs, plated a run and was walked. Young, Perich, Butler and fifth-year Joe Gorla also recorded hits in the game. Those four Mountain Hawks combined for three RBIs and three runs scored.
Lafayette's Cuiffreda and Zarrillo recorded multi-hit games, each with two hits and two RBIs. Cuifredda scored three runs in the game while Swidler also added two RBIs with his two-run home run.
Pat Walega was the starter for the Leopards but only lasted 1.1 innings after allowing five runs on three hits with two walks. Trace Florio replaced Walega and he threw 4.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two htis and one walk. Chase Barley (W, 2-1) pitched the seventh inning and did not give up a run on two hits, while James Reese (S, 2) closed out the game for the final two innings and allowed just one run on two hits with three strikeouts.
Junior right-handed pitcher Teddy Tolliver got the start in the game and tossed four innings of work with four earned runs on four hits and four strikeouts. O'Neill entered in relief and threw 2.2 innings with one unearned run on one hit with four Ks and three walks. Grisack (L, 1-1) was the next Mountain Hawk out of the bullpen and he hurled 2.1 innings with four runs, three earned, on three hits and a couple of strikeouts.
The Rivalry, presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, continues tomorrow, April 1 when the Mountain Hawks play a doubleheader with Lafayette. Game one of the day is set to begin at 12 p.m. from Walker Field with game two taking place 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chase Barley (2-1)
L: Grisack, Will (1-1)
S: James Reese (2)
Batting:
2B: Michael Zarrillo 2 ; Justin Grech 1
3B: Seif Ingram 1
HR: Pete Ciuffreda 1 ; Ethan Swidler 1
RBI: Pete Ciuffreda 2 ; Michael Zarrillo 2 ; Seif Ingram 1 ; Ethan Swidler 2 ; Blaze Fadio 1
SF: Blaze Fadio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kyle Chmielewski 1 ; Patrick Vandenbergh 1 ; Pete Ciuffreda 3 ; Michael Zarrillo 1 ; Seif Ingram 1 ; Ethan Swidler 1
SB: Pete Ciuffreda 1 ; Seif Ingram 1
Batting:
2B: Whitlinger, Jake 2
HR: Perich, Rafe 1 ; Butler, Justin 1
RBI: Whitlinger, Jake 2 ; Young, Tyler 1 ; Perich, Rafe 1 ; Butler, Justin 1 ; Patrizi, Dom 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Perich, Rafe 1 ; Butler, Justin 1 ; Kohl, Andrew 1 ; Gorla, Joe 1 ; Patrizi, Dom 2
HBP: Butler, Justin 1
