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at VMI
3/11/2022 | 3 p.m
Mar. 11 (Fri) / 3 pm
VMI
History
DOVER, Del. – The Lehigh baseball team benefited from a five-run top of the first inning, multiple defensive lapses from the opponent and the pitching did the rest in a 7-3 victory over Delaware State Sunday afternoon at Bob Reed Field. The Mountain Hawks (5-5) scored seven runs over the first two frames, which was enough to snap the team’s two-game skid and close out the series with a win.
First year right-hander Jack Hamilton earned his first career victory, pitching two innings in relief of starting pitcher Ben Christian, allowing just one earned run on two hits with a strikeout.
“I thought that first inning was critical to our success today,” said head coach Sean Leary. “Whitlinger got us started and then Retzbach and Davis had big hits in the first to give us a little breathing room. And then we went out and scrapped on the mound. We had a lot of free passes, but when we needed to make big pitches, our guys stepped up and I give our pitchers credit today. Five different guys got key outs with men in scoring position. Sometimes you have to be gritty opposed to being dominant and it was more of a gritty effort by our pitching staff.”
It was a three-hit afternoon for lead-off batter Jake Whitlinger, who went 3-for-5 to pace the offense Sunday. Sophomore Riley Davis went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and first year designated hitter Sam Holtz went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice and a run scored while baserunning was on point as Whitlinger tallied a pair of stolen bases and Adam Retzbach had one as well.
“We didn’t execute well offensively over the last two days, so we needed someone to step up at the plate for us today,” said Leary. “And Jake [Whitlinger] set the tone by just getting on base and when he does that, we’re a different team. The games he’s been on a high clip, we’ve scored more runs and today was a good example of that. He got on the first three times and we got seven runs on the board. That’s got a lot to do with him being a spark plug for us.”
Whitlinger started the game off with a single up the middle, advancing to second base on an error by the centerfielder. After he stole third and Rafe Perich walked to put runners on the corners, Retzbach doubled to right field, scoring Whitlinger to give Lehigh an early 1-0 lead. A walk to Justin Butler loaded the bases for Andrew Kohl, who reached on a fielder’s choice and scored Perich to take a 2-0 lead. Kohl advanced to second on a wild pitch to score Retzbach and a two-RBI single from Riley Davis made it 5-0 after the first frame.
Delaware State scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the inning as Miguel Rivera grounded out to third base and scored Mike Worthington to cut the gap to four runs.
Two more runs scored for Lehigh in the top of the second inning as Perich reached on an error, scoring both Whitlinger and Holtz to extend the lead to 7-1.
The Hornets got a run back in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly to center field and then again in the bottom of the ninth when Krew Bouldin singled up the middle to score Myles Eaddy to trim the deficit to 7-3.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Perich was brought in to pitch from third base, getting the batter to strike out looking as he earned the save and the Mountain Hawks survived for the 7-3 win.
Mason Brewer led the Hornets with a 2-for-4 day while eight others each registered one hit against Lehigh pitching.
The Mountain Hawks’ pitching staff did an excellent job overall especially with the influx of first year hurlers, as Val Taddei in particular made an impact throwing 1.2 shutout innings of relief, striking out three and walking two with no hits allowed.
Lehigh will begin his Spring Break slate with a three-game series at VMI in Lexington, Va. First pitch Friday is set for 3 pm against the Keydets.
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