Bucknell University
20-23, 0
Lehigh (PL Semifinals)
26-23, 0
Bucknell Baseball Wins 10-8 Slugfest Over Lehigh in Game 1 of Patriot League Semifinal Series
5/14/2022 5:29:00 PM | Baseball
Freshman Tyler O'Neill (3-3) pitched four strong innings in relief, closing out the game with a pair of strikeouts, to send the Bison (20-23) to the early edge in the series. The slugfest was interrupted by a 47-minute weather delay, so Game 2 of the series was pushed back to an 11 a.m. start on Sunday. Game 3 will follow, if necessary.
The starting pitching matchup featured a pair of All-Patriot Leaguers in Bucknell's Will Greer and Lehigh's Luke Rettig, but the offenses were up to the challenge in what proved to be a back-and-forth thriller.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth after squandering a couple of early scoring opportunities, Bucknell finally got on the board on Lowery's RBI double into the right-field corner. Sherwin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game at 2-2, but Rettig retired the next two to strand three runners.
Adam Retzbach's two-out RBI single gave Lehigh (26-23) the lead back in the fifth, but in the bottom half Kendall Pierson greeted Mountain Hawks' reliever Nick Pave with a pinch-hit, two-run triple. Logan Kellerman drove in Pierson with a sac fly to make it 5-3.
Lehigh's potent offense struck right back in the top of the sixth. A double from Riley Davis and a single from Andrew Nole tied the game at 5-5, and then Patriot League Player of the Year Casey Rother fought off a two-strike pitch and dribbled a single through the right side to plate two more, giving the Mountain Hawks a 7-5 lead.
Lowery came through in the clutch once again in the bottom of the sixth. With two on and two outs, he yanked a pitch down the left-field line that struck the fence just under the foul pole. Jacob Corson and Grant Voytovich scampered home to make it a 7-7 game.
After O'Neill worked a 1-2-3 seventh, Bucknell took the lead for good in the bottom half. Kellerman started the inning with a single up the middle off reliever Tyler Thompson (1-2). Kyle Lyons moved him up with a sacrifice bunt, and then Sherwin ripped a 1-0 pitch up the middle to bring home Kellerman with the go-ahead run.
Moments after Kellerman scored, the lightning detectors sounded, and the game was delayed for 47 minutes. Lehigh brought Rother in from right field to pitch after the delay, and Cannizzaro belted Rother's third pitch over the left-field fence to plate two big insurance runs.
💥Just after the resumption of play, Chris Cannizzaro goes downtown to give the Bison a 10-7 lead in the 7th! Kendall Pierson with the lift back to the dugout. 🔥 #rayBucknell
— Bucknell Baseball ⚾️ (@Bucknell_BB) May 14, 2022
Watch live: https://t.co/5hGhbOOOXL pic.twitter.com/NMEn8LM7IQ
Lehigh got a run back on a Bison throwing error with two outs in the eighth, but O'Neill was dominant in the ninth. He retired 5-hole hitter Joe Gorla on a dribbler up the third-base line that required a nifty throw on the run from Corson, then he punched out Tyler Young and Davis to end it.
Bucknell is hosting postseason baseball for the first time since 2014, which is also the last time the Bison won the Patriot League championship.
Voytovich, Lowery, and Lyons all had two hits as Bucknell piled up 12 in the game. Young and Retzbach collected two hits each as part of Lehigh's 10-hit attack.
Cannizzaro's home run was his team-leading sixth of the season, and he tied Voytovich for the team RBI lead with 34.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: O'Neill, Tyler (3-3)
L: Thompson, T. (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Sweeney, G. 1 ; Young, Tyler 1 ; Davis, R. 1
RBI: Rother, C. 2 ; Retzbach, A. 1 ; Gorla, Joe 1 ; Davis, R. 1 ; Nole, A. 2
SH: Davis, R. 1 ; Carlson, C. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Whitlinger,J 2 ; Sweeney, G. 2 ; Young, Tyler 2 ; Davis, R. 1 ; Nole, A. 1
HBP: Whitlinger,J 1 ; Sweeney, G. 1
PO: Whitlinger,J 1
Batting:
2B: Lowery, Brendan 2
3B: Pierson, Kendall 1
HR: Cannizzaro, Chris 1
RBI: Sherwin, Anthony 2 ; Cannizzaro, Chris 2 ; Lowery, Brendan 3 ; Pierson, Kendall 2 ; Kellerman, Logan 1
SH: Lowery, Brendan 1 ; Lyons, Kyle 1
SF: Kellerman, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sherwin, Anthony 1 ; Cannizzaro, Chris 1 ; Voytovich, Grant 1 ; Corson, Jacob 2 ; Dunn, Tyler 2 ; Kelly, Mason 1 ; Pierson, Kendall 1 ; Kellerman, Logan 1
SB: Lyons, Kyle 1
HBP: Sherwin, Anthony 1 ; Corson, Jacob 1 ; Kellerman, Logan 1
