Lehigh University
20-20, 0
Navy
22-21, 0
Lehigh Completes Comeback In 9-8 Thriller Over Navy
4/25/2025 6:55:00 PM | Baseball
Lehigh (20-20, 9-11 PL) reliever Liam O'Hearen earned the win, tossing 4.0 innings with four strikeouts and four earned runs. First-year Cole Kochanowicz picked up his second save of the season, striking out two in the top of the ninth inning. Navy (22-21, 13-10 PL) reliever Spencer Stephens picked up the loss after the go-ahead run was credited to him in the bottom of the eighth.
Both Lehigh and Navy traded scoreless frames in the first and second inning, as starters Marcus Danchision and Tyler Grenn were working well to begin the game. The Mountain Hawks found some offense in the bottom of the third, kickstarted by a Jake Whitlinger RBI double with no outs. Dom Patrizi then sent Robbie Carvelli home on a sac-fly followed by an Aidan Quinn RBI groundout that put the home team up 3-0.
However, the Midshipmen found a quick response in the top of the fourth. Tristan Rucker's two RBI double and RBI groundout by Henry Mitchell tied the game 3-3. The next half inning, Raffaele Rogers connected on a solo home run on the first pitch of the inning to put Lehigh back in front.
Navy went back on top in the fifth thanks to a bases clearing triple by Mitchell, making the score 6-4 Mids. Quinn shortened the gap in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single, but two more Navy runs came across the plate in the top of the sixth to give the away team an 8-5 advantage.
Trailing by three, Carvelli chipped into the Navy lead in the bottom of the sixth with a two RBI single that sent Trystan Crawford and Justin Butler past home plate. Rogers then came up clutch again for Lehigh, connecting on another solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at eight apiece.
O'Hearen kept the lid shut on the Mids in the top of the eighth, giving the Mountain Hawks a chance to score and avoid a bottom of the ninth inning. Patrizi was the hero for the Mountain Hawks, sending Carvelli home on an RBI single to take a 9-8 lead. Kochanowicz retired Navy in four batters in the top of the ninth to seal the victory.
With the win, Lehigh jumped Lafayette to move into the fourth and final playoff spot in the Patriot League standings. Each team still has five league games remaining on its schedule.
Rogers went 3-4 with two RBIs, two home runs and two runs scored on the day. Both Whitlinger and Patrizi tallied two hits while Quinn, Butler, Andrew Kohl and Carvelli provided the other hits for Lehigh.
The Mountain Hawks return to J. David Walker Field on Saturday, April 26 at 1 p.m. to take on Navy on Senior Day.
Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: O'Hearen, Liam (4-5)
L: Stephens, Spencer (5-2)
S: Kochanowicz, Cole (2)
Batting:
2B: Brown, Evan 2 ; Izquierdo, Victor 1
3B: Mitchell, Henry 1
RBI: DePerno, Ty 1 ; Izquierdo, Victor 1 ; Rucker, Tristan 2 ; Mitchell, Henry 4
SH: Rucker, Tristan 1 ; Mitchell, Henry 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Manning, Andrew 1 ; Brown, Evan 2 ; DePerno, Ty 2 ; Izquierdo, Victor 2 ; Peterson, Owen 1
HBP: Murtha, Brock 2 ; DePerno, Ty 1 ; Izquierdo, Victor 2 ; Peterson, Owen 2
Batting:
2B: Whitlinger, Jake 1
HR: Rogers, Raffaele 2
RBI: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Patrizi, Dom 2 ; Quinn, Aidan 2 ; Rogers, Raffaele 2 ; Carvelli, Robbie 2
SH: Whitlinger, Jake 1
SF: Patrizi, Dom 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitlinger, Jake 2 ; Rogers, Raffaele 2 ; Butler, Justin 1 ; Crawford, Trystan 1 ; Kohl, Andrew 1 ; Carvelli, Robbie 2
CS: Kohl, Andrew 1
HBP: Whitlinger, Jake 1 ; Kohl, Andrew 1 ; Carvelli, Robbie 1
