Box score (game 1)
Box score (game 2)
NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Lehigh did the bulk of its scoring late in both games of its 9-8 and 7-5 non-conference baseball doubleheader sweep of NJIT Sunday at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
The Mountain Hawks (13-8) overcame a 7-2 deficit with five runs in the top of the sixth inning of game one. And then, after NJIT reclaimed the lead with a run in the bottom of the same inning, Lehigh scored twice for a 9-8 victory in the seven-inning opening game.
In Sunday's second game, Lehigh trailed early, 1-0, but scored the next five runs, capped by a three-run top of the seventh that made it 5-1 for the Mountain Hawks. The Highlanders (2-12) responded with four runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a two-out, three-run homer for Bryan Bleakley. But the Mountain Hawks broke the 5-5 tie with an unearned run in the eighth inning and then added an insurance run, also unearned, in the ninth, for a 7-5 win.
In contrast, Lehigh led from the first inning on in both games of its 8-1 and 6-2 sweep of the Highlanders a day earlier at home in Bethlehem, PA. The Mountain Hawks scored three runs in the opening inning of Saturday's first game and two in the first frame of the nightcap.
In Sunday's opener, the first batter of the game, Lehigh senior SS Brendan McGaheran homered on a 1-2 pitch to give his team a quick lead. But NJIT answered with a run of its own in the bottom half and then broke out with four runs in the bottom of the third.
Meanwhile, Highlander starter Mark Leiter Jr settled down and allowed one more run through the first five innings while his teammates built a 7-2 lead.
But Leiter tired in the sixth inning and finally departed with two outs and a 7-5 lead. DJ Roche, who had been catching and was one of the hitting stars as NJIT built its lead, then went to the mound and surrendered a pair run-scoring hits to tie the game at seven apiece.
The Highlanders went back on top in the bottom of the inning when 2B Vincent Del Vecchio delivered a two-out RBI double down the left field line. But Lehigh surged back ahead on a two-run single by McGaheran and went on to the 9-8 win.
Roche took the loss for NJIT in his first decision of the season, allowing four hits and three runs in 1.1 innings. Leiter, the starter, pitched 5.2 innings and was charged with 6 runs on 7 hits and 5 walks, with 4 strikeouts.
Junior RHP Cory Kent, the fourth Lehigh pitcher, got the win despite allowing NJIT's go-ahead run in the sixth inning. Kent (3-0) pitched a hitless seventh inning, working around a walk and error to nail down the win. He pitched two innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and a run.
McGaherin, who had the first-inning home run and then two-run singles in both the sixth and seventh innings, was 3-for-5, with 5 runs batted in and 2 runs scored. DH Kevin Mihalik was 3-for-4, scoring a run and driving one in.
For NJIT, which lost despite generating its second-highest run total in a game this season, three men collected two hits each. Roche was 2-for-5 with a double and a triple. Del Vecchio was 2-for-2, both doubles, with three runs batted in. And LF Anthony Caiola was 2-for-4, with an RBI.
In the second game, the Highlanders got on the board first, thanks to a leadoff single by senior SS Matt Tomczyk and then another double for Roche (2-for-5 in the nightcap and 4-for-10 in the twin bill) in the opening inning.
NJIT's top pitcher, sophomore LHP Tripp Davis shut out Lehigh through the first three innings, but fell behind, 2-1, on single unearned runs in the fourth and fifth innings, as Lehigh collected four hits in the two frames, as well.
After a 1-2-3 sixth inning, Davis ran into trouble in the seventh, allowing three runs, with two crossing on a single by Lehigh CF Billy Goldman (2-for-4). Freshman RHP Joe Fasano came on to pitch with two outs and the score stayed at 5-1, Lehigh, when Roche gunned down Goldman trying to steal second.
NJIT showed resilience in the bottom of the seventh, coming back to tie the score at five with a 4-run half-inning. The first run scored when Caiola (2-for-4 in the game and 4-for-8 on the day) led off with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman RF Matt Weckerle, who was also 2-for-4 in the game and 3-for-7 in the doubleheader.
Then Bleakley delivered the big blow, a two-out, three-run shot over the wall in right center field for his first home run of the season, tying the score.
The blast for the powerful junior offers hope to him and to the Highlanders. Bleakley has been struggling in the young 2011 season after batting .319, with team-leading totals of 16 doubles, 6 home runs and 29 RBI in 54 games in 2010. This season, his average is at .229 and he has two doubles and 6 RBI in 14 games. However, he had hits, including a double and the home run, in all four weekend games against Lehigh.
The good feelings of the four-run late comeback in Sunday's nightcap were short-lived, however, as Lehigh rallied for what proved to be the winning run with two outs in the eighth inning.
Mihalik (2-for-4 in the game and 5-for-8 in the doubleheader) walked between the first two outs and then advanced to third when LF Casey Turner (2-for-4) singled off of NJIT's Fasano. With runners on first and third, Fasano's throw-over to hold the runner handcuffed the first baseman Bleakley and the ball skipped away for an error, allowing Mihalik to score from third with the sixth Lehigh run.
In the ninth inning, 2B Brendan Pifer (2-for-4) doubled leading off and eventually scored an unearned run on a passed ball.
Fasano took the loss in relief for the Highlanders, allowing the two unearned runs in 1.2 innings. His won-lost record is 0-2.
Luke Porter, the third of four Lehigh pitchers, got the win to go 1-0. He relieved in both games of Sunday's doubleheader and was charged with one run in 1.1 innings of his win.
Kent, the game one winner in relief, got the save, his third, for Lehigh, with a scoreless ninth inning that included a hit and two swinging strikeouts.
Lehigh had four men with two hits apiece—Goldman, Mihalik, Turner, and Pifer. Weckerle, Roche, and Caiola all collected two hits for NJIT in the nightcap.
The Highlanders are scheduled for a single game on Wednesday at 3 pm, when they host Lehigh's ancient rival, Lafayette, in a single game at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
