Thursday, May 4
Bethlehem, Pa.
3:30 p.m.

Lehigh University

vs

Cairn University

5-3-23-Baseball-Final-Preview
Photo by: Maria Bouchard

Lehigh Readies for Final Five Games of the Regular Season with Senior Day on Saturday

5/3/2023 4:31:00 PM | Baseball

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team (20-25, 7-14 Patriot League) is set to close out the regular season with five games from J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park, starting Thursday, with its final non-league game against Cairn University.
 
The Mountain Hawks will celebrate the careers of Ben Christian, Ryan Deom and Will Grisack for Senior Day on Saturday when Lehigh hosts Army West Point (31-14, 18-3 Patriot League) in a doubleheader. The Brown and White close out the 2023 season with a twin bill against Holy Cross (14-33, 4-17 Patriot League) on Sunday.
 
Junior Andrew Nole is one of four Mountain Hawks hitting over .300, leading the way with a .355 batting average with fifth-year Casey Rother hitting .339 and leading Lehigh in multiple categories. Rother has team highs of hits (59), home runs (15) and RBIs (61) while sophomore Rafe Perich leads the squad in doubles (17) with 56 hits, five homers, 42 RBIs and 38 runs scored. Sophomore Andrew Kohl is hitting .300 on the year with eight home runs while first-year Dom Patrizi has a .376 batting average with 32 hits, five doubles, 13 RBIs and 23 runs scored.
 
Fifth-year Luke Rettig, this week's Patriot League Pitcher of the Week, is one of two Mountain Hawk pitchers to throw at least 44 innings. Rettig has tossed 51.1 innings this season and has a 6-3 record in 11 starts with an ERA of 3.33 and 62 strikeouts this season. He delivered a two-hit shutout for his second complete game of the year against Navy and struck out 11 Midshipmen becoming Lehigh's record holder in career strikeouts. Rettig surpassed Mitch Smith '79 (262 strikeouts) and now has 269 strikeouts heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
 
Sophomore Alex Bouchard has thrown 44.1 innings, with 36 strikeouts in 11 starts and 13 appearances with a 3-2 record. Junior Teddy Tolliver has thrown 38 innings with 30 strikeouts in 10 starts and 11 appearances while Christian has made 12 appearances with four starts with a 2-2 record in 28 innings of work. Grisack has made the most appearances on the mound this season with 21 and has tossed 28 innings with 28 strikeouts while Deom has delivered 23.2 innings of work in 16 appearances with 19 Ks.
 
Cairn (18-17, 10-5 Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC)) is riding a seven-game winning streak into their game against Centenary (N.J.) Wednesday, sweeping conference opponents Clarks Summit and Rosemont as well as taking down Lancaster Bible College. Four Highlanders are hitting over .350 this season, led by Tyler Warr who leads the squad with a .488 batting average with 63 hits. Zach Bauers is hitting .393 with a team-high 12 doubles with 46 hits while Dylan Jackson has a .392 batting average with 49 hits, 11 doubles, five home runs and 41 RBIs.
 
On the mound of Cairn, three Highlanders have tossed at least 36 innings, led by Sam Spadea who made six starts and seven appearances with a 4-1 record in 36 innings of work with 30 Ks. Ronaldhino Alcin has thrown 37 innings with a team-high 41 strikeouts in 11 appearances and four starts while Joe Battaglia made nine starts and 12 appearances with 38.2 innings pitched with 22 strikeouts and a 3-4 record.
 
Army West Point (31-14, 18-3 Patriot League), the reigning four-time Patriot League Champions and 2023 regular-season champions, is coming into the weekend off a 17-6 non-league victory over LIU. In league play last week, the Black Knights went 2-1 against Lafayette, winning the opening game 5-3 before dropping Saturday's game 4-3 in seven innings. Army concluded the weekend series with a 9-6 win over the Leopards.
 
Kevin DuBrule leads Army with a .410 batting average, 75 hits, 17 doubles and 56 RBIs while Ross Friedrick is hitting at a clip of .376 with a team-leading 15 home runs with 68 hits, 12 doubles and 51 RBIs. Braden Golinski has a .326 batting average while both Derek Berg and Sam Ruta are hitting .321 for the Black Knights.
 
Army has four pitchers that have thrown 51 innings or more, with Matthew Ronnebaum making 11 starts with a 5-3 record, one complete game and 60.2 innings pitched with 62 strikeouts. Tanner Gresham has a 5-1 record in 10 starts, three complete games and 59 innings of action with 56 strikeouts while Mike Ruggieri has a team-leading six wins in eight starts and 11 appearances with 49 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.36 in 53.1 innings. Robbie Buecker has made the most appearances on the mound for the Black Knights, toeing the rubber 17 times and making five starts in 51 innings pitched with 41 Ks and a 4-2 record.
 
The Black Knights lead the all-time series 101-53 and are 7-3 over the last 10 games. Last season, the Mountain Hawks dropped the three-game home series at J. David Walker Field and then split the doubleheader from Doubleday Field. This season, Lehigh was swept in the three-game series by scores of 3-0, 8-4 and 7-5.

Holy Cross (14-33, 4-17 Patriot League) enters the weekend off a 13-10 victory over Brown in non-league action after being swept by Bucknell last weekend. Jack Toomey leads the Crusaders with a .316 batting average, 50 hits, 17 doubles, seven home runs and 35 RBIs while Sean Scanlon is behind him hitting .294 with 46 hits, 17 doubles, five home runs and 30 RBIs. Connor Cooney is hitting .282 at the plate with 44 hits, eight doubles and team-high 36 runs scored.
 
On the mound for the Crusaders, three different pitchers have thrown 35 or more innings, with Danny Macchiarola tossing 41.1 innings with 35 strikeouts in 13 appearances and five starts. Scanlon has started 14 games and made 15 appearances with 36.1 innings pitched with 24 strikeouts while Nate Chudy leads the squad with 47 strikeouts in 35.1 innings with eight starts and 11 appearances.
 
Holy Cross leads the all-time series 69-64, but Lehigh has won seven of the last 10 games. Last year, Lehigh won the season series 3-2. The Mountain Hawks won two out of three games at J. David Walker Field and then split a doubleheader at Fitton Field on the final day of the regular season. This season, Lehigh managed to sweep the Crusaders in a three-game series, 10-2, 14-12 and 8-4.

Live stats for all five games can be found at the following link: https://lehighsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

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