BETHLEHEM, Pa.  – The Lafayette baseball team took the first two in a four-game series on Saturday afternoon at Legacy Park over rival Lehigh by 4-1 and 10-9 finals in the first weekend of Patriot League action.
 
The Leopards (5-14) struck first in game one when freshman Justin Johnson pushed a base hit through the right side that was misplayed by the Lehigh (8-11) right fielder. Junior Trey Durrah came all the way around from first on the play to score and Johnson advanced to third to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the third.
 
Lehigh's only run on sophomore starter JP Woodward came in the fourth, scraping across a run to tie the score. Woodward went the distance for Lafayette, his first complete game going 7.0 innings with a career-high nine strikeouts, allowing just the one earned run on five hits.
 
The game quickly turned into a pitcher's duel, as the next two innings were scoreless before the Leopards plated three in the top of the last. Senior Spencer Rouse and Durrah opened the seventh with back-to-back singles, with Rouse advancing to third.
 
A third-straight single by freshman Dylan Minghini scored Rouse and moved Durrah to third before a sacrifice bunt by Johnson brought home Durrah. Sophomore Ethan Stern followed it up with a clutch, two-out single to score Minghini and give Woodward all the insurance he needed to close things out and pick up his first win of the season.
 
Johnson went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Minghini had his first multi-hit game, also going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
 
Durrah's big day continued in game two going 3-for-4 with a Lafayette single-game Patriot League era best eight RBIs. His grand slam in the fourth inning gave Lafayette a 5-3 lead and his bases-clearing double in the fifth made it a 10-3 advantage.
 
Lehigh did not go away, tacking on five in the eighth to get within one run, but freshman Frank Craska came out of the bullpen to get the final out on one pitch in the eighth and shut the door in the ninth for his first career save.
 
The rivals square-off for two more on Sunday in Bethlehem, with the double header scheduled for noon to conclude the four-game set.

 
For the latest on the Lafayette baseball program, follow @LafayetteBSBL on Twitter, Lafayette Baseball on Facebook, and @LafayetteBSBL on Instagram.