The Lafayette baseball team continued their success this past weekend by winning a series against rival Lehigh, and a win over Villanova on Tuesday.
Lafayette was scheduled to play two games against Lehigh on both Saturday and Sunday at Kamine Stadium, but weather complications postponed the first doubleheader to Sunday and the teams only had time to play one game on Monday.
Taking two out of three against Lehigh was a great start to Patriot League play for the squad, who have already earned more wins this season than they had all of last season.
“The highlight of the weekend had to be the walk-off on Monday when we beat Lehigh in nine innings,” senior pitcher Brendan Ball said. “Steve Cohen hit a walk-off double to win the game, which was really exciting. The starting pitching did really well this weekend. Brett Kreyer threw a gem on Sunday in the first game, then Kenny Campbell through well in the second game and John Cain threw really well in the third game, which allowed us to keep the games close in the early innings and then our offense could give us the win as the game went on.”
The baseball team won the first game of the weekend 1-0, lost the second game 5-2, won the third game 8-7 and then beat Villanova 7-6. The last two games both ended in walk-off victories for the Leopards. Senior second baseman Steve Cohen hit a double to beat Lehigh, while Senior left fielder Luke Robinson scored on an error against Villanova.
Lafayette’s success, now at an overall record of 11 wins and 13 losses, has not come without some drama and failure. Four key players on the baseball team are out with significant injuries. Junior catcher John Selsor is out for the year, junior utility man Dan Leckie is also out for the rest of the season, junior first baseman Richard Villa injured his wrist but should be returning shortly and junior pitcher Jon Faraci has been sidelined due to arm complications.
“Our offense has had to change from a lot of big hits, doubles and home runs, to now being more of a base to base offense with more hits,” Ball said. “We definitely have had to adjust.”
The adjustments seem to be working as the Leopards have had a solid start to their season and look to continue that success this weekend when they travel to Navy (18-8 overall and 4-4 in Patriot League Play) in Annapolis, Maryland.
