Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bucknell Baseball Drops a Pair to Lehigh
4/14/2002 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 14, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell (14-25, 5-7 Patriot League) built an early lead in both games of a Patriot League doubleheader against Lehigh (19-13-1, 5-3 Patriot League), but the Mountain Hawks rallied twice to come away with a sweep Sunday afternoon at Bucknell Field.
Lehigh and Bucknell split their doubleheader yesterday, and the Mountain Hawks earned their first series victory against the Bison since 1991.
Bucknell led 5-1 after three innings in the opener, but the Mountain Hawks scored six unanswered runs to win 7-5. Lehigh also rallied from a 5-3 deficit to win the nightcap 9-6 in nine innings.
With the wins, Lehigh moved into second place in the Patriot League standings, while Bucknell fell into fourth.
In game one, the Bison scored all five of their runs in the bottom of the third inning, when the Bison roughed up Lehigh starter Jack Muscalus (5-3) with five hits. Eric Fishman and Ben Stoll drove in a pair of runs apiece to give Bucknell a 4-1 lead, and Pete Wolf made it 5-1 after scoring on a double-steal.
After pounding out 18 hits in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader, Lehigh continued their hot hitting in game one this afternoon, as the Mountain Hawks collected 15 hits off three different Bucknell pitchers. With two outs, Lehigh scored four times off Bison starter Chris Lackett and reliever R.J. Grant (1-5) to tie the game at 5-5. Eric Hoffman, Justin Pagan, Jesse Novalis, and Jeremy Mack produced four consecutive run-scoring singles in the frame.
Lehigh took the lead for good when Justin Pagan drilled a solo home run over the left field fence off Grant in the top of the sixth.
Muscalus settled in after the third and allowed just two batters to reach base over the next two and two-third innings. With two outs and Sam Moss on second base, he was relieved by Matt Nusinov in the bottom of the sixth. Nusinov forced Chris Mahony to ground out to end the inning, then threw a scoreless seventh to pick up his third save of the season.
Eric Hoffman led Lehigh at the plate with a 4-for-5 effort to go with two RBI. Pagan finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, while Novalis and Chad Thoman each bagged a pair of hits. Stoll paced the Bison with two hits and two RBI.
The Mountain Hawks continued to have their way at the plate early on in the nightcap. Starting pitcher Jeff Pietrak smacked a two-run single off Bison starter Sean Magee to give Lehigh a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first.
After Lehigh tacked on another run in the second, the Bison came back with three runs of their own to tie the contest at 3-3 in the bottom of the second, highlighted by an RBI-single from Brian Hirschberg and a sacrifice fly from Chris Cipolloni.
Fishman spotted the Bison a 5-3 lead with a bases-clearing single in the fourth off Keith Frerichs, the third of seven Lehigh pitchers, but Lehigh answered with three runs over the next two innings. The Mountain Hawks scored once off Magee in the fifth, then tied the game at 5-5 with back-to-back hits to start the sixth, prompting Bucknell head coach Gene Depew to call Gregg Farmery (4-3) out of the bullpen. Lehigh went on to drill two more hits after Farmery entered the game to take a 6-5 lead.
Bucknell scored once in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. Moss drove in Bucknell's tying run with a pinch-hit, two-out double down the right field line off Nusinov (1-1), Lehigh's fifth reliever.
Farmery retired the Hawks in order in the eighth, and nearly made it through the ninth without allowing a run. With two outs, Farmery walked Hoffman to load the bases, then gave up a three-run double to Pagan, who finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
Lehigh reliever Kyle Stawicki walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth, but Brian Haveri secured the Mountain Hawks' victory by retiring all three batters he faced for his first save of the season.
Lehigh ended up with 13 hits in game two. Novalis and Pietrak each had three hits and two RBI. Fishman and Phil Bunting stroked a pair of hits apiece for the Bison.
Bucknell returns to action on Wednesday, when it hosts Temple in a non-league contest starting at 3:30 p.m. The Bison resume their Patriot League schedule with a four-game series at Army on Saturday and Sunday.
