April 12, 2009
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - Pitching was the name of the game on Sunday afternoon as Lafayette pitchers tossed two shutouts to give the Leopards 4-0 and 2-0 victories over Lehigh. With the two wins, Lafayette improves to 6-5 in league play and will look to win the series in Monday's finale.
The Leopards (16-16, 6-5) took the first game behind the solid pitching of starter Jeremy Atkins, who scattered just five hits over six scoreless innings. Rookie Jeff Snell came on in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season and clinch the 4-0 Lafayette victory. In game two, Corey Shea went the distance, tossing nine shutout innings with three strikeouts and no walks.
A.J. Pisarri, Daniel Bierce and Justin Shepherd all finished the day with three hits apiece. Those three hits give Bierce 170 for his career, good for 10th all-time in Lafayette history.
In the opening game, Lafayette batters had just six hits off of Lehigh pitching but made them count as four different players drove in runs.
The Leopards got their first run across the plate in the third inning. Alex Bechta opened with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Rob Froio's ground out sent Bechta to third and Bierce drove him home with a single through the left side.
Lafayette added to the lead with two runs the following inning. Brad Weiss was hit by a pitch to open the inning and advanced to second on Matt Hall's ground out. Shepherd followed with a single to score Weiss. A.J. Miller followed with another RBI single, making the score 3-0.
The team added an insurance run in the fifth inning. Pisarri reached base on a fielder's choice, advanced to third and scored on Bierce's ground out to shortstop.
Atkins kept Lehigh (9-26-1, 3-6) batters off balance but ran into some trouble in the seventh. He gave up back-to-back walks and Joe Kinney called on Snell. Snell kept things interesting, as two fielder's choice plays put runners on first and second with two outs. He then walked Logan Marshall to load the bases but rebounded to strike Geoff Campbell out swinging to end the game.
In game two, Lehigh batters continued to struggle against the equally dominant performance from Shea, who faced only three batters over the minimum. Runs were at a premium for both teams as Lafayette escaped with the 2-0 victory.
The game was scoreless until the third inning. Jeff Butler's single--the Leopards' third straight hit of the inning--scored Pisarri and gave the Leopards a slim, 1-0 edge.
The score remained 1-0 as Shea worked methodically through the Mountain Hawks' lineup. Lehigh was retired in order in the fifth and sixth and had just three hits over the final three innings.
Meanwhile, the Leopards added a run in the eighth inning. Bierce reached base on a single and advanced to third on a groundout. The shortstop then found himself on third after Lehigh's second balk of the afternoon and scored on Shepherd's hit up the middle.
Shea came out to pitch the ninth and after giving up a one-out single, got Andrew Russell to ground into a game-ending double play, securing the two-run win for Lafayette.
The series finale will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Lafayette's Kamine Stadium.
Postgame Notes:
- Daniel Bierce has now played in 173 career games for Lafayette, tying him for the most all-time.
- Lafayette has now won 11 of its last 15 games against Lehigh.
