BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lafayette baseball defeated Lehigh 11-6 in the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday. The second game was suspended in the top of the seventh inning due to lightning and rain, with Lehigh leading 10-5.

Lafayette scored first in game one. With no outs in the first and runners on first and second, sophomore Michael Zarrillo reached on a Lehigh fielding error which allowed senior Kyle Chmielewski to score and senior Pete Ciuffreda to advance to third. Senior Seif Ingram followed with an RBI-double to left field and senior Patrick Vandenbergh hit an RBI-groundout to give the Leopards a 3-0 lead.

In the second inning, Lehigh struck back, scoring five runs on an RBI-single by Dom Patrizi, an RBI-single by Tyler Young, a two-run single by Casey Rother and an RBI-single by Andrew Nole, making the score 5-3.  Lehigh added another run in the third on a solo home run to left center field by Joe Gorla.

The Leopards tied the game in the fourth, when back-to-back singles by Vandenbergh and junior Blaze Fadio led off the inning. Junior Justin Grech was hit by a pitch and then with the bases loaded, Ciuffreda hit a fly ball to right field that was misplayed by the Lehigh right fielder, allowing all three runners to score and tying the game 6-6.

In the fifth inning, Ingram blasted a solo home run to left field, giving the Leopards back the lead, 7-6. The home run was the fourth of the season for Ingram.

The Maroon and White extended their lead in the sixth, scoring four runs on an RBI-double by Zarrillo, a Lehigh error and an RBI-groundout by Vandenbergh, to make the score 11-6.

Neither team was able to put another run on the board, with the final tally being 11-6.

Junior Adam Bogosian picked up the win for Lafayette, pitching 5.1 innings, only allowing one hit and one run, while striking out five. Luke Rettig took the loss for the Mountain Hawks, pitching 4.0 innings, giving up six hits, seven runs and striking out eight.

Game two started with Lehigh scoring three runs in the first on an RBI-singles by Rother and Justin Butler, and a bases-loaded walk to Andrew Kohl.

Lafayette responded in the fourth. Zarrillo singled up the middle to lead off the frame. Freshman Ethan Swidler singled to the left side, putting runners at first and second. Vandenbergh lined an RBI-single to right center and later in the inning sophomore Easton Brenner ripped an RBI-single to left field, making the score 3-2.

In the fifth inning, Lehigh added another run on an RBI-single to left field by Rafe Perich, increasing the Mountain Hawks' lead to 4-2.

With one out in the sixth, Fadio was hit by a pitch and the next batter, Brenner, blasted a two-run home run to right center field, tying the game 4-4. The home run was the second of the year for Brenner.

Lehigh responded in the bottom of the sixth, taking the lead back with six runs in the inning, scoring on an RBI-single by Young, a two-run single by Rother and a three-run double by Ryan Cochran, making the score 10-4.

In the seventh inning, Zarrillo singled to lead of the inning and Ingram doubled down the line, putting runners on second and third. Swidler followed with a walk that allowed Zarrillo to score on a wild pitch, bringing the tally to 10-5.

After the walk to Swidler, with runners on the corners and no outs, and Vandenbergh at the plate, play was suspended due to lightning and rain.

The second game of the doubleheader will be completed on Sunday at noon.  The series finale with the Mountain Hawks will follow.