The baseball team battled against Lehigh University last weekend in a four-game stretch, splitting the series two games apiece. On Tuesday, the team traveled to the University of Pennsylvania, falling 16-11 in a high-scoring match.
The Leopards (3-5 Patriot League, 6-23 overall) jumped out to an early lead in the first inning on Friday, but the Mountain Hawks (3-5 Patriot League, 14-13 overall) responded to tie the game on an unearned run and another hit.
“Game one, I thought, we put ourselves in a position to win,” head coach A.J. Miller said. He referenced starting senior pitcher Joe Skapinetz giving the Leopards a “quality start.”
Freshman infielder Alex Barrist eked out another score for the Maroon and White on an RBI double, but the Mountain Hawks tied the game once again on a third-inning single.
The game remained scoreless until the eighth inning when Lehigh took the lead on a two-run home run, which was good enough to close out the game.
“We, as a group, feel as though, especially in the last three weeks, we’ve been the most talented team on the field,” Miller said. “It’s our inability, sometimes, to not get out of our own way. In that game, specifically, we had our opportunities to score and we just didn’t get the big hit when we needed to.”
Flipping the script from Friday, the Leopards saw success on Saturday with 8-1 and 3-1 doubleheader victories against the Mountain Hawks.
“I’m proud of the fact that we were able to turn the page and respond the way we did Saturday,” Miller said.
The Leopards dominated the scoreboard in the first matchup of the day. Junior outfielder Bode Grieve launched a solo home run for the first of his collegiate career, and sophomore infielder Matt Colella and senior infielder Michael Zarrillo recorded 2-RBI hits to take a 5-0 lead after two innings. The Leopards kept their foot on the pedal, out-hitting the Mountain Hawks 13-4.
In the second game, the Maroon and White held Lehigh to just a single run. Senior outfielder Easton Brenner and freshman outfielder Jack Mislan each recorded RBI hits.
“We just stuck to our plan and executed well, and there was just good energy throughout the day, which is awesome,” Miller said. “Teams tend to feed off of that, and there was just no letup.”
Lehigh clawed back in the final game of the series, beating the Leopards 8-1.
“We just weren’t our best,” Miller said, referencing how the wind played a factor in what could have been some critical hits.
Sophomore utility player Luke Caucci scored his first collegiate home run in the third inning, giving the Leopards their sole run of the game. However, the Mountain Hawks led 4-1 at that point and ultimately pulled away from the Leopards in the seventh inning with three unanswered runs.
Tuesday’s matchup against the Quakers (10-12 overall) brought in a combined 27 points between the two teams.
Zarillo struck first for the Leopards with a first-inning RBI single, but UPenn responded with a 4-run frame. The Leopards refused to back down, responding with six unanswered runs in the next two innings for a 6-4 lead. However, the Quakers had an 8-0 run of their own to take the lead back and widen the difference.
“We had our opportunities,” Miller said. He called UPenn’s string of hits in the fourth inning the “deciding factor on the day.”
The Maroon and White clawed back four runs in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough to close the deficit to the Quakers.
‘The encouraging part is we didn’t cave or give up,” Miller said. “We continued to fight back and try to crawl back in the game.”
Sophomore shortstop Matt Colella led the Leopards with three RBIs, followed by Brenner and Mislan, who had two apiece.
Miller pointed to stranding 15 runners and sharpness on defense as areas that could be improved.
“We use yesterday as a learning moment for what we need to better prepare for when we play Navy and Bucknell this weekend,” he said.
