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Holy Cross
5/1/2022 | 12 p.m
May 01 (Sun) / 12 pm
Holy Cross
History
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Defensive miscues in Game 1 cost the Lehigh baseball team a win in the series opener Saturday afternoon vs. Holy Cross at J. David Walker Field, but the Mountain Hawks (22-20, 9-11 PL) pulled away from the Crusaders ( 14-33, 8-12 PL) with three runs in the sixth inning of the second game to get the 6-2 win in the nightcap on Senior Day.
Lehigh rode the bats of junior Adam Retzbach and senior Casey Rother between the two contests with Retzbach batting .857 (6-for-7) with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs Saturday. Rother hit .500 (4-for-8) with two homers, a double and three RBIs. First-year Jake Whitlinger also finished with four base hits on the day.
On the mound, both starters (Luke Rettig and Matt Stamford) settled for no decisions while senior righty Nick Pave was charged with the loss in Game 1 and Rother threw 3.1 shutout innings to earn his third win of the season in Game 2.
“I was really pleased with our seniors today,” said head coach Sean Leary. “I thought Luke, Nick, Matt and Casey all threw the ball exceptionally well today. We only gave up a few earned runs in 19 innings today. They gave us every opportunity to win these games. Every once in a while, there’s a part We’ve been a pretty strong defensive team but we handed them all the runs in the first game.
“That happens every once in a while. It’s frustrating and it’s a game we believe we could’ve and should’ve won. Our pitchers kept us in that game and in Game 2, I thought our pitchers led the way coupled with big hits from the middle of the lineup.”
Retzbach gave Lehigh the lead first in the bottom of the first inning in the opener, an RBI single to left center field which Whitlinger scored as Lehigh took a 1-0 lead.
Against Rettig, Holy Cross scored twice – once in the second and once in the fourth – to take a 2-1 lead.
Rother came up big in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo homer to left center, tying the game at 2-2. The Mountain Hawks were able to load the bases in that inning, but Retzbach was caught trying to steal home to end the inning.
A pitcher’s duel sent the game to extra innings with the two teams battling for the next four frames. The turning point in the contest came in the bottom of the eighth when the Mountain Hawks loaded the bases with no outs. Riley Davis struck out swinging, Young reached on a fielder’s choice for the second out and Sam Holtz was also retired on a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
The Crusaders notched three runs in the 10th to take a 5-2 lead with all three runs scoring on Lehigh errors.
Lehigh tackled on a run in the bottom of the 10th on Gerard Sweeney’s sacrifice-fly, but Davis’ groundout a strikeout looking for Young resulted in a 5-3 win for Holy Cross.
Retzbach went 4-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI in the loss, while Rother and Whitlinger both registered two knocks. Rettig did not factor into the decision, despite allowing just two runs (one earned) on five hits over seven innings of work, striking out four with three walks. Pave (1-2) was saddled with the loss, throwing the final three innings without allowing an earned run.
In Game 2, a lot of the game was a pitcher’s duel through the first six innings, despite Rother’s two-run homer down the right field line in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead.
Holy Cross tied the game up in the sixth on an RBI triple and RBI single, knotting it at 2-2.
The Mountain Hawks notched three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 5-2 lead, started by Young’s RBI single up the middle and two singles off the bats of Davis and Chase Carlson.
Insurance runs were added in the seventh inning by way of Retzbach’s solo homer to left field as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 6-2 final.
Whitlinger, Rother, Retzbach and Carlson each picked up a pair of hits, while Davis recorded three knocks to his ledger.
On the mound, senior lefty Matt Stamford was solid without factoring into the decision, going 5.2 strong innings, allowing two runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Rother shoved the final 3.1 frames without giving up a run, surrendering one hit with two strikeouts. He is now 3-0 with a team-best 0.75 ERA this year.
The program honored their eight seniors – Chase Carlson, Gerard Sweeney, Austin Dambach, Joe Gorla, Luke Rettig, Nick Pave, Casey Rother and Matt Stamford – as well as longtime assistant coach John Bisco with a special pre-game ceremony.
Lehigh will go for the weekend series victory on Sunday, taking on the Crusaders at noon in the final regular season game at J. David Walker Field.
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