April 12, 2008
Game 1
Game 2
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.
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.
Postgame Notes:
- Lafayette has won six of the last eight games against Lehigh, dating back to last season.
- Lafayette has hit multiple home runs in two games this season and is 2-0 when hitting multiple home runs. Designated hitter Joe Ezekiel hit two in a 10-7 win over Delaware on March 20.
