EASTON, Pa. – Strong early-inning offense and a dominant performance from its pitching staff propelled Lafayette to a 4-2 victory over Lehigh on Friday afternoon at Kamine Stadium.

Lehigh took a 1-0 lead, scoring a run in the top of the first, but Lafayette wasted no time attacking in the bottom of the inning. After Alex Barrist singled and stole second, Colella drove him in with an RBI-single to left field. Colella then swiped second before scoring on a Brandon Doubek RBI-single to right, giving the Leopards a 2-1 lead.

Lafayette extended the margin to 3-1 in the second when Luke Caucci reached on a bunt single, stole second and eventually crossed the plate on a wild pitch. Doubek padded the lead in the third, driving in Colella who had reached on an error and stolen second with his second RBI-single of the day, to make it 4-1.

Lehigh attempted a comeback in the seventh when Robbie Carvelli singled home Aidan Quinn, but the Mountain Hawks could not get any closer and the game ended with a 4-2 final score.

On the mound, Tristan Helmick earned the win with a dominant career-high 14 strikeout performance. Helmick threw 7.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Owen Basso provided 2.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn his first save of the season, yielding two hits and striking out five. Lafayette pitching struck out a season-high 19 batters.

Max Treonze took the loss despite a complete-game effort, allowing four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 8.0 innings.

Lafayette will continue its series against rival Lehigh with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 p.m.