March 25, 2007

Game One

Game Two

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - Visiting Lehigh scored a pair of come-from-behind wins, 5-4 and 12-6, sweeping Sunday's baseball doubleheader from New Jersey Institute of Technology in action at Owen T. Carroll Field on the campus of Seton Hall University.

The Mountain Hawks, 8-9-1 after the sweep, scored three times in their last at-bat to pull out the first game, a seven-inning contest, 5-4. In the nine-inning nightcap, Lehigh spotted the Highlanders a 4-2 lead through three innings, but tied the game on single runs in the fourth and fifth and then went ahead for good with three in the sixth, before going on to a 12-6 win.

The hitting star of the doubleheader was Lehigh shortstop Liam O'Connor, who went 8-for-8 in the twinbill, including 5-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI in game two. Eight different Mountain Hawks got hits in the first game, while six Lehigh batters posted multiple-hit games in the nightcap.

For NJIT, which is 4-9 early in its first season of competition at the Division I level, senior RF Kwesi Mitchell was 4-for-8 on the day, including a two-run home run--his fourth homer of 2007--in the bottom of the sixth inning of the opener.

Only one starting pitcher figured in the decisions for either team. In the first game, Lehigh's second pitcher, Geoff Campbell (1-1), picked up the win with two-thirds of an inning pitched, while Bill McDonnell nailed down his first save after working a scoreless bottom of the seventh. NJIT reliever Cory Kuzmik (1-2) took the loss.

In the second game, Andrew Grim (1-0), Lehigh's second pitcher, got the win with five innings of relief work, while Jason Leo, who entered with an 8-6 lead in the bottom of the eighth, picked up a save in his first appearance of the season. NJIT starter PJ Saporito (1-3) was tagged with the loss.

In the first game, NJIT took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by LF Derrick McCain and a run-scoring double by 3B Mike Turner.

The lead held for Highlander starter Brian Ascolese, who yielded one run before tiring in the sixth and giving way to Kuzmik, whose wild pitch on his first toss of the day, allowed the tying run to score from third. The junior left-hander then settled down, keeping the score at 2-2 in the middle of the sixth.

NJIT answered the challenge in the bottom of the frame, as McCain doubled near the base of the fence in left centerfield leading off, setting the stage for Mitchell's two run blast over the wall in center. Lehigh starter Joel Hockman got an out, before giving way to Campbell, who kept NJIT from inflicting more damage.

In the top of the seventh, Lehigh touched Kuzmik for two hits, including what proved to be the game-winning blow, a single to left by 3B Matt Reitz that sent home 2B Patrick Groome with Lehigh's fifth marker.

Trailing, 5-4, NJIT did not go easily, as CF Craig Binkiewicz, Mitchell and Turner all walked to load the bases. But McDonnell nailed down the save, stranding all three on a called-third-strike-strikeout.

The visitors also came from behind to win the second game, overcoming an early 4-2 deficit.

NJIT, down, 2-0, struck for four runs in the bottom of the third. 2B Matt Schlitter had a run-scoring single. McCain picked up an RBI on a ground out. Turner had a sacrifice fly and freshman C Randy Scott (2-for-4 in game two) doubled home the fourth run.

Lehigh tied the game on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively, before surging ahead for good with a three-run sixth.

The Mountain Hawks tacked on a run in the top of the eighth for an 8-4 lead, before the Highlanders again fought back for a pair in the bottom of the frame. Freshman Elliot Hagburg doubled as a pinch-hitter for one run and classmate SS Miguel Lugo's two-out single off of Leo drove in the second run.

Having trimmed the deficit to 8-6 through eight innings, NJIT could not get closer, as Lehigh picked up four ninth-inning runs. In the bottom half, Leo worked around a Schlitter single to get the last three outs.

NJIT is slated to host Saint Peter's at 4 pm on Tuesday at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, home of the Highlanders in downtown Newark.