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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh baseball team begins a long stretch of games as its Spring Break continues, visiting Fairleigh Dickinson Tuesday at 2 pm before returning home to J. David Walker Field Wednesday against Saint Peter’s at 3 pm Tuesday’s game at FDU is set to be streamed on NEC Front Row, while Wednesday’s home opener is scheduled to air live on ESPN+ (subscription required).
Tuesday’s matchup in Teaneck, NJ was originally set to take place at Walker Field, but poor field conditions from Saturday’s snowfall pushed the game back on the road.
The Mountain Hawks (6-6) split Friday’s doubleheader at VMI and Sunday’s game was canceled due to the weather. Lehigh was victorious in the first game, an 8-0 shutout win, while dropping the nightcap, 11-7.
Five players homered on Friday while junior catcher Adam Retzbach was excellent offensively, slashing .571/.1,000/.667, while going 4-for-7 with a home run and three RBIs against the Keydets. He also was a perfect 1,000 in the field behind the plate, making 11 putouts with one assist. Retzbach walked and was hit once. Other top performers included sophomore Riley Davis who went 3-for-7 (.429) with a homer, a double, three runs scored and three RBIs. Senior Casey Rother hit .375 (3-for-8) with two doubles, while first year Justin Butler had two hits over the two games, a double and a home run.
Through the first 12 games of the season, four players are hitting above .300 with Rother (.388), first year Jake Whitlinger (.375), Butler (.346) and Davis (.310) leading the way. First year Rafe Perich is batting .292 in 48 at-bats for the Mountain Hawks this year. Butler in particular continues to impress after going 2-for-2 with a double and a home run in the first game of the day against VMI on Friday. He is tied for the Patriot League lead with three home runs so far this year.
Five different pitchers made an appearance against VMI on Friday, with four getting into the game during Game 2. Senior left-hander Luke Rettig (3-1, 0.43 ERA) earned his third victory of the season after going the distance in his first complete Game shutout of 2022. He struck out five batters and walked two over seven frames, scattering three hits and held hitters to a .136 average. Senior lefty Matt Stamford (1-2, 7.41) made the start in the second game, charged with the loss after tossing three innings, allowing six runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Both Jack Hamilton and Ryan Deom were excellent in their relief appearances against the Keydets. Hamilton threw two shutout innings with one hit and two strikeouts, while Deom went one inning, allowing just one hit.
Junior right-hander Carlos Torres (0-0, 4.82) was scheduled to get the start Sunday before the cancellation and should see the field early this week against either FDU or Saint Peter’s. Torres missed his start against Delaware State and hasn’t pitched since Feb. 27 against Mount St. Mary’s. He struck out eight Mountaineers and walked one over six innings of work in his previous outing.
FDU comes into Tuesday’s matchup with a 3-11 overall record and looks to build off a 12-5 win at Towson on Friday. His matchup on Saturday against the Tigers was canceled due to snow. The Knights had lost four straight games heading into Friday’s Game 2.
FDU’s pitching staff holds a 6.94 ERA, striking out 106 hitters, while also allowing 149 hits and holding a 1.77 WHIP. Joan Sosa leads the Knights with an average of .341, registering a total of 15 hits, adding 10 runs and seven RBIs. On the mound, Jake Simon (1-1, 2.13) has struck out 12 batters with five walks over 12.2 innings of work, making five appearances with one start. Joey Kosowski is the Knights’ strikeout leader with 17 in 17.1 innings.
Lehigh has won four of the last five matchups against FDU dating back to the 2017 season. It has out-scored the Knights, 55-30 during that stretch of games. The Mountain Hawks emerged victorious the last time out between the two teams, walking off against FDU, 7-6 at Walker Field. With runners on second and third, Tyler Young singled up the middle to score Retzbach and take the victory.
Saint Peter’s comes into Wednesday’s game at Walker Field on an eight-game losing streak. The Peacocks are 3-9, all coming on the road (3-8) or at neutral sites (0-1). SPU is coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of Mercer over the weekend, falling 22-0 Sunday, 19-0 on Saturday and 17-4 on Friday in the opener. It fell, 24-1 to Longwood on Wednesday afternoon. The Peacocks have been out-scored 82-5 over their last four games including 41-0 in the previous pair of contests.
Collin Jensen is slashing .324/.568/.419 with an OPS of .987 in 11 games for the Peacocks so far. He’s homered twice with three doubles and seven RBIs, walking five times. Tom Buckman is hitting .297 with 11 hits, four doubles and driving in seven runs as well.
On the mound, Nick Markantonatos (1-1, 3.09) has struck out seven in 11.2 innings of work, making an appearance in three games with two starts. SPU pitching has a total ERA of 9.49 with 60 strikeouts and 73 walks.
This will mark Lehigh’s first matchup against Saint Peter’s since 2019 after falling on the road, 8-6 on May 1, 2019. The Mountain Hawks got a 13-5 victory over SPU at Walker Field on Mar. 27, 2019. Lehigh is 10 -2 in the all-time series and have not lost at home since Apr. 8, 2015.
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