FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Game 1: Lehigh 5 Lafayette 1
Game 2: Lafayette 5 Lehigh 0
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lafayette baseball team rebounded from a 5-1 loss in the first game of a four-game series with archrival Lehigh to shutout the Mountain Hawks 5-0 in the second. Daniel Bierce and Tom Ambrosole each hit home runs in the 5-0 win while starting pitcher Jeremy Atkins threw a complete game shutout in Bethlehem.
Atkins went the distance in the win, his third of the season, pitching nine innings of shutout ball. He walked just one Lehigh batter while striking out five. On the offensive side, three Lafayette batters recorded multiple hits, including two from Bierce and Ambrosole. Ambrosole also drove in two and scored two runs.
The game was scoreless after two until Lafayette broke through for three runs in the top of the third. Freshman Rob Froio led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Lehigh starter Kevin Mihalik. Froio went to third on a Bierce single and scored the game’s first run on Chris Luick’s sacrifice fly. Ambrosole followed with a RBI double to left field and Jeff Butler’s single through the middle scored Ambrosole to make it a 3-0 game.
Lafayette (17-12, 5-5) put up single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, both on home runs. Bierce knocked one over the left field in the fourth inning for his first home run of the season and 4-0 Leopard advantage. Ambrosole then led off the fifth with his third home run of the year to give the Leopards a 5-0 lead.
Atkins’ solid pitching kept the Mountain Hawks off the scoreboard. The sophomore retired the side in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and surrendered only three more hits over the remaining two innings.
Senior Kevin Reese started the first game for the Leopards. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits. The Lafayette offense managed just five hits in the contest, with Froio scoring the team’s only run in the first inning on a Luick sacrifice fly.
The Mountain Hawks responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the first as Reese gave up two consecutive singles and an error by Froio allowed the tying run to score. A RBI ground out led to the inning’s second run and 2-1 Lehigh lead.
Two more hits in the second inning led to another two runs for the Mountain Hawks and made the score 4-1. Reese kept Lehigh off the scoreboard until giving up a one-out home run to Andrew Russell in the sixth for the Mountain Hawks’ fifth and final run of the inning.
The Leopards and Mountain Hawks (16-21, 2-8) conclude their series with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 12 p.m.
Game 1: Bucknell 8 Holy Cross 4
Game 2: Holy Cross 8 Bucknell 0
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Bobby Holmes (Dedham, Mass.) threw his first career complete game, picking up his second collegiate shutout in the second game as the Holy Cross baseball team split with Bucknell in a Patriot League doubleheader this afternoon, dropping the first game 8-4 and winning game two 8-0. The Crusaders are now 14-17 (7-3 Patriot League) while the Bison 15-16-2 (Patriot League 5-5).
Freshman Eric Oxford (Danvers, Mass.) a great day at the plate during the second game, going 3-for-5 including a double, scoring two runs and driving in a run.
In the second game, Holy Cross jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Oxford hit a double down the right field line, driving in freshman Brendan McCrea (Hicksville, N.Y.) from third base. Sophomore John Sills (Milton, Mass.) singled into center field, scoring Oxford and senior Brendan Akashian (Lowell, Mass.), who reached base on a walk. In the top of the third, a solo home run by senior Gil Gomez (Lake Worth, Fla.) put Holy Cross ahead of the Bison, 4-0. The Crusaders rallied in four more runs as freshman Nick Ciardellio (Edison N.J.) who scored the final run of the game, hitting his first collegiate home run to left field in the top of the ninth. Holmes (3-3) pitched nine scoreless innings, scattering five hits while striking out three batters and walking one.
In game one, junior Jake Gorman (Norfolk, Mass.) went 2-for-3 including a triple, a double and scoring two runs while Akashian also went 2-for-3 including scoring a run for Holy Cross.
The Crusaders and the Bison return to action tomorrow, Sunday April 13, wrapping up their four-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 12:00 p.m.
Game 1: Army 14 Navy 3
Game 2: PPD
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team suffered a 14-3 setback in the series opener against Army at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis on Saturday afternoon. The Midshipmen fell to 20-14 overall and 6-3 in Patriot League play, while the Black Knights improved to 12-18 and 4-5 in the league.
The second scheduled game for Saturday was postponed, as two rain delays combined to last three hours and 10 minutes forced the series opener to finish past 5:30 p.m. The back end of Saturday’s twinbill will be played on Monday afternoon, with first pitch to be determined.
Army jumped on the board early, plating three runs on two outs in the opening frame. The score remained 3-0 after two innings before a 29-minute rain delay. One-half inning later, the contest was again delayed due to rain, this time for two hours and 41 minutes.
“You have to give credit to Army – they fouled off every tough pitch and hit every ball that was in the zone,” stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. “They had a great offensive approach today.
“That’s baseball – it’s the one game that has the weather component. Again, to their pitcher’s credit, he came in and filled up the zone. He pitched well with the lead and had three pitches working for him.”
Both starters would remain in the game after both delays, but Navy right-hander Oliver Drake (So./Gardner, Mass.) would be chased during the fourth inning, as Army pushed across five runs to make the score 8-0.
The Midshipmen plated their first run of the game in the fifth inning. With two outs and nobody on, Nick Driscoll (Fr./Riverview, Fla.) legged out an infield single before Renaldo Hollins (Sr./Virginia Beach, Va.) ripped a RBI-triple to the gap in right-center. Army came back with a run in the sixth, but Navy responded with a two-out, RBI-double off the bat of Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.).
Hollins belted his second triple of the game in the seventh inning, this time down the right-field line, and would score on a Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.) two-out infield single.
Hollins and Bolt each had two base knocks for the Midshipmen on Saturday. Thomas Hamilton’s (Sr./Houston, Texas) single in the sixth inning extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games.
“We did a better job of putting on good at bats later in the game,” said Kostacopoulos. “When you fall behind eight runs in a seven-inning game, it becomes quite a difficult situation.”
Drake was tagged for the loss, as he allowed seven runs on six hits over 3.2 innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Army starter Drew Clothier went the distance, as he yielded three runs on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Prior to the contest, Navy’s new indoor batting facility was dedicated to longtime former head coach Joe Duff. Duff served as head coach of the Midshipmen for 32 years from 1962-93, accumulating a school-record 595 victories.
The Midshipmen and the Black Knights will play a doubleheader at 12 noon tomorrow, with the first contest to be televised nationally on CBS College Sports Network. In addition, live stats for all of Navy’s home games will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
